What we’re about
A semi-regular book club reading predominantly surrealist texts, occasionally interspersed with absurdist fiction. Open to all readers, writers and artists interested in surrealism as a genre of writing, as an art form, and in the history of it. Titles alternate between female and male authors (as far as possible), and are based on public library catalogue availability, online PDF/free version availability, and/or affordable secondhand/new print copies. Links for each of these options are provided.
*** PLEASE NOTE - FROM MAY WE ARE MIGRATING TO EVENTBRITE***
We meet on Zoom to discuss for one hour, going round the room to highlight our favourite and least favourite parts (15mins), the most striking parts (15mins), and how this text might now inform our own work or thinking going forward (20mins). This is a book group predominantly for readers, not a writing or art sharing group, so if you are also a writer or artist you are very welcome to talk around your work and reference it in the last section - but that is not the focus. Bring a cup of tea!
We are migrating to Eventbrite after the April bookclub with Dorothea Tanning - click here for our new group page, and here for our May event featuring Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. At the end of April this MeetUp group will close down.
There is a small charge for each event to help cover the Zoom subscription.
Examples of authors and texts include, but are not limited to, those on these resources:
- Best Surrealist Literature
- Top 100 Surrealist Books
- Women Surrealist Writers
- 251 Absurdist Fiction Texts
Run by East London based writer, literature worker, reader and artist, Sam Dodd. Based on attendance and keenness, I'm really open to making a way for attendees to propose texts for forthcoming months, and make suggestions on format, length and other elements of the book club too. Hope to see you soon.
Group Rules
Sexism, misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia, faith-based discrimination, and any other form of exclusion, intimidation, bullying or harassment will get you booted with no warning. However, within the context of the text under discussion it is permitted and even encouraged to comment on and highlight these elements, if you perceived them to exist, and it was central to your interpretation of the text.
