Friday 9 October 2015

Fancy joining the Lucky Dip Book Club? A club for local creatives ... no matter where they live!



How do you like the sound of a new book-inspired creativity challenge each month? Because I might just be able to help you out there ...


Do you remember the days of The Copy & Paste Project? [A blog challenge/creativity kick-start hosted by me and my inordinately talented friend Kirsty Neale between 2009 - 11].  It doesn't matter if you don't ... this isn't really connected to that ... it's just that those of you who do remember how it ran will understand why the Lucky Dip Book Club caught my eye ...

This book club with a creative twist has its base at the MIMA gallery [Middlesbrough, Teesside] but you don't have to live nearby to join in. In fact anyone and everyone is welcome. Follow me and I'll get Danielle, the club's organiser, explain more ...

"Hi, we’re a new book club based in the town of Middlesbrough, UK, but we aim to be accessible from anywhere. You can join in no matter where you live if you can get to the internet." 
You see? I told you you could join in.  Here's how it works [I've highlighted some of  the key points in Danielle's original description] ... 

"We are an experimental book club. Here’s how we are different to a regular book club:
1) Our books are chosen by a combination of chance and recommendation. Every month we ask visitors to Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, where our club is physically based, to suggest a book to go into the hat. We encourage people to open minded, playful, and even dastardly with their suggestions. It’s acceptable to put a book you hated into the hat, just to see how our participants will respond if it gets drawn.
2) Every month, THREE books, not one, are picked from the hat to be the focus of the month. How you use those books is up to you. For example, you may just choose one book to work closely with and disregard the other two. Or you could use all three of them for your own means, which leads me to… 
3) Your response to the book does not have to be to read it from cover to cover and provide a full and informed opinion at the end. We don’t care if you read it or not. We are fine with it if you despise it. We encourage ‘responses’ beyond forming an opinion. For example:redesign the book cover. Do a piece of creative writing giving a voice to a character you think needs more page time. Draw a comic depicting the gruesome end of a character who lived happily ever after, much to your disappointment. Crochet a doll of a character. Write a score for a scene. Do a photography project embodying the atmosphere of a chapter. You are welcome to produce, anything and also nothing, because…"
And here's where I think this project gets extra-interesting ...

Here's where this project ties-in with what we've been chatting about and confessing here lately about blog commenting, about feeling too shy to join-in, about not having the confidence to speak-up, and about the splendidly named position of  lurking!! 
"4) Lurkers are welcome. We appreciate this sort of experiment can be daunting. If you are just curious and/or shy, you are welcome to join us as a spectator, you will not be judged for it. You are also welcome to join us at any time, and come and go as you please. There is no competitive agenda or requirement to create.
5) There is no deadline for responses. Every month we will draw three new books, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop working on a project from a previous book. You are encouraged to share your progress with us. But you don’t have to. The aim of this group is to provoke creativity and the confidence to use books as inspiration and fuel for your own ideas.
6) This tumblr is a space for those who want to attend remotely. If you have mobility or social anxiety issues please don’t be afraid to get involved without ever coming to a physical meeting. They are only one hour a month anyway, the main project happens within you, maaaan. We’ll also use it as a place to show our own work, and examples of similarly inspired projects to serve as inspiration."

So those are the official details ... what do you think? Are you coming? 
  • Maybe it's something you might like to hover around for a while.
  • Maybe it's something you can imagine dipping into each month to grab a starting point for your own creativity. 
  • Maybe the idea of it been fully accessible online might give you the confidence to drop by and play-along sometime.
As for me well ... I attended the first meeting, in person, in the flesh, on my own. And I was nervous. But I felt it had been too long since I'd really pushed myself to try something new, something with unfamiliar people, something vaguely social ... but not too social. Heaven forbid.

But I was nervous. Did I mention that? 

The other members were perfectly nice, and while I welcomed having a cup of tea to hug throughout, I still had a headache by the time I got home! And yet ... I'm pretty certain I'm going to give it a go and return next month. 

And if you like the sound of it, and you fancy joining in online, but you're nervous, shy, introvert, or feeling awkward then you should know you're not the only one! But that doesn't mean we have to always miss out!

Danielle has clearly thought about this and wants the club to be inclusive and to appeal to lots those people who think they'd never dare attend something like this 'in real life'. So ... if you're tempted then here are the final additional details you'll need to join in ... 

The first 3 Lucky Dip books drawn from the hat were:[and it was an actual hat I can verify that. I was there. I saw the hat. I even picked out one of the choices from it!] 
  1. The Whitsun Weddings poetry collection by Philip Larkin
  2. The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl and 
  3. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr.Seuss
What you do with them is entirely up to you! Have another read of the points 2 + 3 above for more of an idea of where you might begin. 

And don't forget you need not even have read the books to take inspiration from them! But, if you do want to read without buying them [I haven't] then try your local library or have a search around online - you can find examples or text and/or imagery from all three titles without having to even touch the books. 

After finding the text of Green Eggs and Ham online and a copy of the Larkin in the library I'm currently at the stage of pushing vintage paper scraps around to see what comes of it, taking some of the imagery / text of the original sources as my starting points. 

I will no doubt share my finished pieces here, but the club also welcomes works-in-progress contributions by anyone to the 'Bookydip' Tumblr page

[I'm not really 'getting' Tumblr, so we'll see how that goes! Danielle did say people can email her their work to upload ... maybe this might develop as the club becomes more established].

So that's the inclusive, come-as-you-are, join-in-from-the-comfort-of-your-pyjamas [if you're at home that is ... I won't be wearing my PJs to the next meeting!] Lucky Dip Book Club ... 

... anyone reaching for some Larkin/Dahl/Seuss yet? 

Julie 

28 comments:

  1. The moment I saw the first book on the list, I was reciting Sunny Prestatyn in my head. Funny how those poems we learned at school come flooding back! My daughter is a big fan of Tumblr, but I don't quite get it either.

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    1. No ... I don't even know how you comment on Tumblr ... or *if* you comment on it. [And goodness knows blog comments are at the forefront of my mind this month!!].

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  2. I don't know the first book, but books 2 and 3 are on The Boy Child's bookshelves ... will I join in? Not entirely sure.

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    1. I won't twist your arm to join in Ruth. Maybe The Boy Child will [join in that is ... not twist your arm] ;-)

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  3. I wasn't too sure if this was for me ... I'm not a literary type of person and don't read as much as I would like to anymore. However it isn't about reading the books so much as being creatively inspired by them.
    And then I read the book list - Green Eggs and Ham has to be one of my ALL TIME favourite books, I can not teach a child by the name of 'Sam' without thinking of it! It seems like I am being called to join in ... just off to check Tumblr (if I can understand it!)

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    1. Yeah - it's absolutely about the creative side. Even if it just inspires you to use a colour scheme or something ... I've been cutting out images of fish from old books just because Larkin keeps mentioning them! Not at all a literary response!

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  4. Hmm interesting ... I do like the idea of a book club and this one sounds very different. I shall give it some thought. Philip Larkin - another one from my A level Literature reading list!
    They started a book club at the school where I work and I seriously thought I would join but then I found out the majority of those going were from the English Faculty and the types of books weren't a little more 'literature' than 'reading material'. It suddenly sounded like a trip down memory lane to my sixth form days with a teacher putting a statement out there followed by the words 'and discuss' and I hastily rethought my plans to join. But yours sounds fun - maybe I will lurk until I see what you come up with at the end of your first month!

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    1. I actually like the idea of being given something literary to discus. Ask poor James ... the amount of Shakespearean 'and discus' I've been doing - just for fun - since we saw Hamlet ...

      [Did I ever mention I saw Hamlet??] ;-)

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  5. Ok..I'm coming back to this and I'm saving it up to read properly!! I'm only here to pin the challenge :)

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    1. I know you're just making an excuse to come back and leave another comment ... to cross off your 300! ;-)

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    2. Haha! Yes! Green Eggs and Ham was a favourite of TSO when she was little. She read the book, she had the t shirt. There must be something I could do with that. Then again, a bit of Larkin is hard to go past too. Mmm..

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  6. Love the sound of this Julie, what an original and fun idea. I embrace and get excited about things when it offers such a wide spectrum of ideas... wish I'd been the one to think of it!
    Lucky you visiting in person. I did visit Middlesbrough recently on our road trip. It was earmarked for a ride on the transporter bridge and sorry to say it broke down just before we arrived. So we will be back one day. It would be good to come to the book club while I am there but it is unlikely the timing will be right. But good for you putting on your brave girl knickers! Sometimes being brave means we can get more from an experience. And good to hear you will be going back again. Wish I could join you there it sounds fun! Oh - and I'm not familiar with Tumblr either!

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    1. Ha! The good old Transporter ... it certainly causes a lot of disruption when it breaks down. There's a new glass lift on it now - so maybe next time you'll get to go in that.

      There's probably going to be a new way to keep in touch with the project now - I'll blog about it when that happens!

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    2. Thanks Julie - look forward to reading more.
      And if/when I come back to visit the Transporter bridge I will try and see if you are around. It would be so good to meet up one day if we can work out distance/time.

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  7. coming out of lurkdom to say this looks very interesting, but as I can't even manage to post to my own blog site lately, the thought of learning a new social media system is a bit of a road block. Perhaps I'll participate in silence, but I think this project needs sharing - it could be brilliant. The only book I'm likely to find in my library is Green Eggs and Ham, so maybe my only participating this month will be to put Whitsun Weddings on my wish list for next time I come home. An arts project that's all inclusive? Epic (as my son and his friends might say!). Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hi Theresa - keep a lok out for what might be another way to join in [without using Tumblr] I'll blog it when there's something I can link to.

      As I say - I found plenty of resources online - and you don't even need to read the full book just to be inspired!

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    2. thanks for the info - will definitely look out for that. Glad I could help you knock off another one of your 300 comments :-) In anticipation of possibly joining in with this book project I have actually put up a new post on my blog, just to get me back in the habit. Forward hasn't gone quite to plan, however I'm realizing that plans are sometimes over rated - it's certainly been an experimental type of year :-)

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  8. This is a good idea - if not for the reading part of it but from being inspired to do something else from looking at the books. It is not always easy to find a prompt when looking to do something new and this could be just the thing! I don't understand Tumblr and I have enough to be getting on with at the moment but I will return to the book club at a later date and see what reading material is suggested. Good luck with the #300in30days - I am on track! :-)

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    1. Yep - it's amazing where a prompt can take you [even if it's a million miles from the original idea - it's all about those creative connections and leaps isn't it?]

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  9. Well, this has really piqued my interest - what an interesting concept! (Not sure about the Tumblr platform though - Wikipedia's entry has rather put me off). Will be keeping an eye on it - toe in the water, perhaps :). Good for you for going along and supporting it in person and bringing it to us all!

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    1. Thanks Alexa :-) Even if it just inspires a lovely page from you somewhere down the line that would be lovely. [There's possibly an alternative option to Tumblr in the works now ...]

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  10. I love this idea...I am 75 and know how important it is to keep challenging yourself, makes life more interesting too. I have not heard of tumblr, I will investigate that..the last two are books I read to my grandchildren, Roald Dahl has always been a favourite. I will read these and future books but not sure how I will comment yet. I think all types of book clubs are a great idea. I am off to the library tomorrow.

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    1. What a lovely perspective Gwenyth - thank you. I'll keep everyone up-to-date with how the whole social media aspect develops, there's possibly something new coming this way!

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  11. I love that a "Green eggs and ham" came out of the lucky dip!... I do not like them Sam I am... Is now running around my head! I would be sorely tempted to join (from afar) if we had not just started up our own book club with a group of friends where I live. Our first choice is "Paper towns" which I best get on and start. Glad you enjoyed your visit and enjoy the book x

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    1. It was a bit of a relief that the books were so thin - and I could quickly skim through them! I guess when they're more substantial you/anyone could always just read the reviews or excerpts online. You really don't even need to read them to be inspired [eg. it could even just inspire a scrapbook page about what you used to read to your boys] :-)

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  12. Oh, what a lovely idea! I used to belong to a book group with some friends that always involved less talking about the book than chatting over a glass of wine, but it did make me read stuff that I never would have considered myself. This is a great way to get recommendations but not feel as if you need to read the book (the number of times I read the ending the night before our meeting and tried to work out what was going on because I'd not tackled the book!) and also being part of something whether in the middle of it or on the edge. Fantastic. Belonging to something, however involved we choose to get, is important for our wellbeing, so anything that encourages that is to be welcomed. Oh, and if you ever feel nervous in a situation, the trick is to remember that no one can see what you're feeling inside and they will only ever see what you show them on the outside, so put on whatever "coat" you want the world to see and be brave - no one will ever know your knees are shaking! :-) xx

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  13. Oh isn't this an absolutely brilliant idea? I can feel a 'love for Roald Dahl' LO coming on......! Hoping they'll find another way to share.....(thanks *so* much for the heads up on this: can't wait to see all the entries: how interesting!)

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  14. Love this idea! A very inclusive type of project. I am not really taken with reading the books on the list this month, but may look them up online and see what inspires me! Thanks for sharing this Julie!

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