THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE UNION
THE UNION
B U I L D I N G A N E W S O C I E T Y
Jack Probert (Year 13) reflects on the challenge of running virtual creative writing workshops for the boys of the Lower School WordSmiths Society, and remembers his own writerly debut seven years ago
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Devoted to all things architectural, Alex Whitwell and Erik Watson (Year 12) explain why they decided to launch Architecture Society in order to share their interest in bricks, battlements and flying buttresses
O S C A R N I E M E Y E R b u i l d i n g d e m o c r a c y f r o m s c r a t c h
A round the end of the Michaelmas term, we got together to set up Architecture Society because we felt that this fascinating subject was rather under-represented at the College. We are both looking to study architecture at university, and wanted to share our passion, and perhaps inspire boys in the years below us to look at architecture as a potential avenue to explore in terms of their future careers. We usually run every Tuesday Week B lunchtime, and so far have looked at topics such as Brutalism, the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, and religious architecture, featuring a talk from the Reverend Buckler. We are open to anyone who wants to give a talk about an aspect of architecture that they are interested in. The Coronavirus lockdown did temporarily stop Architecture Society meetings, but we kickstarted our Summer term meetings with an architectural quiz on 5 May. We now have a Microsoft Team set up, and aim to resume our bi- weekly meetings online, using the Teams area to share interesting articles and posts to do with architecture, to try and continue to help our members appreciate this subject.
D o you know who I am?’ The question swirls around in my mind as I stare at the blank screen before me. There’s a kind of disconnection that I don’t think any of us are used to yet – nothing feels quite real; then again, from the beginning, technology has been a part of this – first it was a blog, then a Sway, then a Teams page. I should be used to this by now.
challenge I gave them last week. How it works is that I select six words for them, they write, incorporating the words, and we feed back at the end. Today, we’re doing dialogue as well, hence the prompt I was struggling with. They’re good at it – it’s fluent, alive – and they are certainly braver than I was at their age. I might say I’m almost jealous of their quick, springing sentences and colourful similes. Yes, they’re good at it – awfully good at it. There’s a sense of pride too, of course. It’s nice knowing what we’ve grown into – it’s nice knowing that the little writing family I helped find its roots seven years ago has sprouted up and bears fresh fruit. Of course, it’s been gently, deftly guided – Miss Akrill and Mr Cook have been diligently coaxing us up towards the sun all these years – but scrolling through the copious masses of short stories and poems and scripts we’ve produced reminds me that there’s life in these little black lines, something I can tell this new generation of WordSmiths senses too, even stuck behind a screen.
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A R C H I T E C T U R E S O C I E T Y T u e s d a y 1 : 4 5 A r t S t u d i o 4
‘Do you know who I am?’
It’s an odd one, really – perhaps I shouldn’t have picked it as a creative writing prompt. I know I wouldn’t have liked it when I was their age. Is it arrogant? I think it sounds arrogant. Yes, it must be. It has to be. I begin to type, aware that our session is due to start in three minutes’ time. This has to fit in nicely somewhere. When the call starts, I feel a little out of place – Philip Larkin’s ‘outdated combine harvester’ comes to mind, plagued by peeling rust. This is the second online session I’ve planned and run. We go through our stories, each of the five boys on the call adding their own style and spice in response to the
Yes, there’s life in words, and I’m so glad we found it.
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