Still from Writers Group (2013) Still from Writers Group (2013) Still from Writers Group (2013)
Writers Group
(2013)
31 minutes, HD Video‘Writers Group’ developed from research into community writing groups associated with the Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers. The FWWCP was established in the 1970s and created a network between UK wide groups, to print and distribute independent writing. The founding groups came from Centreprise, Hackney and the Basement Writers, Cable Street London. In the film a contemporary writers group, played by actors, portrays a contemporary situation where the emphasis on progress and quantifiable achievement impacts on the morale of the group. (Reforms of non vocational adult education, for example the dismantling of the Inner London Education Authority were in part responsible for the decline of the FWWCP.) In the meeting individuals share their writing whilst the group give gentle criticism. Prompts were given to the actors to explore subjects of success, recognition and self-development, each member of the group has their own agenda for taking part. The intimacy of the camera, close-up to the characters, creates a feeling of being in the room.