Sunday, June 26, 2011

Cake


Dear Arts PhD students,

It has brought to our attention that there is an error in our programme. The two full-day writing session from 29 to 30 August in the 274 Computer Lab is supposed to begin at 8pm and end at 6pm, not 6-8pm. Considering that 8am is too early for many students, we’ve decided to change the beginning time to 9am. So the two full-day writing session will run from 9am to 6pm. Lunch will be provided.

Apologies for the error.
Which one? This email was written by one of Auckland University's many Associate Deans. I should not have been on the mailing list, having fled the Faculty of Arts about seven months back. Still, it reminds me why I left.

Here in the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries, we have superior writing programmes. Tomorrow, I am going on a three-day writing retreat, in Parnell. The daily schedule is something like this:

Intro
Write
Tea
Write
Lunch
Write
Tea
Wrap up

You will notice that tea has been arranged. Tea entails cake. So I shall write, take tea and cake, write some more, eat lunch, write some more, take some more tea and cake, write again.

I shall write in a notebook, one with hard covers and ruled pages. I shall have no Internet. There will be no interruptions by emails, Facebook or Twitter. But there will be lunch and cake. Victorian writers lived like this.

Whilst I am away, enjoy some of the coolest people ever:




Cake by Not Martha

1 comment:

Christopher said...

Being a PhD student in NICAI I also applied to go on that writing retreat. My rejection signifies the fact that I am superior to those that have need of such retreats. :)