Santiago Writers: Fourteen years and three anthologies later, still going strong

In 2010, I was invited to teach memoir writing in residence at Los Parronales Writers’ Retreat in Chile — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The two-week retreat was organized by Susan Siddeley, a Canadian writer who had participated in one of my workshop series at North York Central Library. Susan and her husband own a charming vineyard outside Santiago — picture intensive workshops and writing time, but also sunshine, grapes on the vine, desert flowers, cacti, grazing horses, the scent of eucalyptus, mouth-watering meals on the terrace, and afternoon pisco sours by the pool.

During the time I was teaching at Los Parronales and later in the city of Santiago, I got to know a few members of the remarkably dedicated and productive group Santiago Writers (several of whom have written guest posts for this website over the past five years). Recently, I asked Ellen Hawkins and Susan Siddeley to share how the group got its start and what its members have accomplished together.

 

 

Guest post by Ellen Hawkins with Susan Siddeley

It was Susan’s idea to start a writing group. I thought she was mad.

It was 2001. Santiago, then a metropolis of five million, was overwhelmingly Spanish speaking. You couldn’t get a cup of coffee without it. You still can’t, at least not in Dunkin’ Donuts — but once we announced that we were forming a group for English writers, others joined us.

Most participants were transient, their length of stay in the country dependent on the price of copper. So by the time we published our first anthology, Friday’s Fare, in 2004, there was only me left. But that publication brought long-term English-speaking residents out of the closet, all eager to write.

Today our membership includes authors from Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, Guyana, South Africa, and the United States.

From the beginning, we have held weekly meetings, gathering around a table to write and critique. Our current table, in my home, is oval and welcoming, polished to a high sheen. We begin with a fifteen-minute writing “sprint” in response to a prompt (usually a word), then read aloud what we’ve written. The energy this exercise produces could light up the Milky Way.

Taking turns, and with copies for everyone to mark up, we get down to the hard task of reading and critiquing one another’s work. Our aim is to listen with an open mind and offer honest comment. This is not easy. Over time, though, we’ve learned to trust one another’s judgment. We’re an intergenerational group with distinct views on most topics, which makes for lively discussion.

When we published a second anthology, In Transit, in 2007, each story, essay, or poem needed repeated editing, which forced a further honing of our skills. We were one another’s editors and “judges” in deciding which pieces would be included. The process taught us much about working together, and about the energy and dedication required if we were to take our writing seriously.

Once they were published, selling our books proved an even greater challenge. In the event, we sold 500 copies, as we had with Friday’s Fare. A third anthology, published in 2011, won the (U.K.-based) National Association of Writers’ Groups Anthology Award for 2012.

Although Susan had by then moved to Toronto, she still was, and remains, very much a part of our group. Her involvement in local writing groups in Toronto — she started Parliament Street Writers — led to an unexpected opportunity for us when she began organizing two-week residential writers’ retreats at Los Parronales, her home on the outskirts of Santiago.

These were led by well-known writers and editors from Canada, England, and Australia. Allyson Latta was one of them. That we, Santiago Writers, were able to attend many of these was nothing short of fabulous. Until then, our only source of instruction had been from magazines posted from England or books tucked into suitcases from Canada or the United States.

Meanwhile, the world was changing. Thanks to the Internet, Santiago Writers can now connect with English-speaking writers, poets, and teachers anytime, anywhere. We use the Internet constantly for research and for ordering books. We started a blog. Some of our members have published their books online.

And at each stage of our growth, we’ve welcomed newcomers. Each writer adds something special to the mix. At last count, all but three of our eleven members either have published at least one book or have one in the works. At the heart of our efforts, it’s all about the writing.

Titles published by members of Santiago Writers: