Letter From The Founder
What connects Russian insult artists, pre-internet prophecy and the-only-point-of-existence-is-to-create-a-masterpiece mainfestos? And what connects boat-buying, card counting and the forgotten domain of googlet?
Give in?
Well, all of these things and more are connected by the fact that they are what a group of writers and artists came up with when given the single word ‘connection’ as their theme.
This is what the Symposium is all about- writers going off in a dozen different directions but always being linked by their quality, originality, wit and daring.
Every month when I sit down to write these little intros I am always genuinely flabbergasted at how good (like this-writing-is-world-class good, not I’m-being-complimentary-to-be-polite good) the entries are. And then I am always overjoyed that I could play a small part in helping this disparate, worldwide bunch of artistic renegades connect.
It’s always a pleasure putting the Symposium together, and I hope you will agree as you read on.
Enjoy.
Essays
The Artist and The Masterpiece by Clint
This was an extremely early submission from the ever-reliable Clintavo and it’s an excellent essay to start us off. Inspiring, high energy, a little intense, a little angry- this is a proper call-to-arms polemic. As the subtitle says ‘The true function of an artist is to produce a masterpiece and no other task is of any consequence.’ Boom.
Everyone I meet online is an idiot by Ana
Obviously this one from Ana Bosch was at times a challenge for me, someone who runs an online community. But as much as I may joke about being an autocrat I welcome different opinions and feedback and dissent and discussion even if it may question the very utility of online communities at all. I’ll entertain pretty much anything if it’s well-written enough, and as we all know by now Ana is a very, very good writer.
How Googlet Got Me Thinking about Connection by Trilety
What do you mean you’ve never heard of Googlet? Nevermind. This can be quickly amended via the reading of Trilety Wade’s latest banger. She never fails.
Prophecy: Internet of The Future by Vanya
I don’t think anyone has (inadvertently) made me feel more insecure about being monolingual than Vanya Bagaev . Imagine just being able to casually drop a translation of a neglected bit of prophecy like this when the need arose. If he wasn’t such a decent and stand-up guy I’d probably find such behaviour infuriating tbh.
Ivan Bunin hated everyone by Konstantin
A potential Title of The Month contender this (it’s between Konstantin Asimonov and Dane Benko for my money). And it’s a very fitting title as this scathing and hilarious compilation of old Bunin’s shittalking great hits shows. No moral, no hugging, no learning, just killshot putdown after putdown. What’s not to love?
I asked my uncle why he bought a boat by Mike K
Mike in New York ‘s uncle is a wise man and I suspect we will all profit from this pearl of wisdom that he shares with us today via the magic of this online connection.
She really got me by Terry
Terry Freedman The Memoirist is possibly my favourite version of Terry the Writer. He just has that knack you know, the eye for the telling detail, the wit (both self-depreciating and otherwise) and the ability to really transport you back to a different time and place. I wonder what ever happened to Anne?
Fiction
The Joshua Connection by Clint
Another month, another example of Clintavo hitting the double by submitting both an essay and a story. Quality and quantity both off the charts. Long may it continue.
52 inches by Oleg
As I said when this story was first posted way back at the start of this Symposium cycle, this story from Oleg is simple but it stays with you. This is a very neat trick for a writer to have at their disposal. Also I love the way that this one plays with different potential meanings of the word ‘connection’.
Pooling by Minna
I could talk about this story of Minna ‘s in great detail. But I think I would be doing both her and you the reader a better service by simply using this space to plug her latest book Aubade. Go and grab a copy and whack it on your Kindle. You won’t regret it.
Connection by Samantha
Plumbing, the spirit of Fitzgerald and being priced out of living. A beautiful work from Samantha Mozart here, who never seems to miss.
Tomb of the Red Queen by Greg
Greg Lemon is simply incapable of writing a bad story it seems. Has he ever missed? Will he ever miss? All signs are pointing to no. Seriously impressive stuff.
Poetry and other hard to categorise things
Weightless is the water at night by Mildred
Mildred Locke Locke (who’s Existential Dred might be the greatest name for a Substack I have ever encountered) enters the STSC fray with this absolute beauty. I like how the writing exists as a physical artefact, as art, as slips of texts stuck on an abstract background. Of course such things only work if the actual quality of the prose itself is top notch. But fortunately it is. A lovely piece.
We'll Burn that Bridge When We Cross It by Dane
Dane Benko is not interested in the niceties of genre and medium distinctions. He does what he wants and we are all the beneficiaries as this ‘prosy poem’ proves.
Sweet Oblivion, My Moon by Matthew
As with Mildred Locke, part of the appeal of Matthew Martin’s work here is how it looks as a physical object (and as I mentioned before such things don’t work if the prose and poetry itself is not up to a very, very high standard).
See, there’s just something aesthetically superior about photographed physical type versus words that are just there on the screen, such as these you are reading right now. I appreciate an artist who tries to break down the layer of glass that separates us here and tries to really reach the reader.
So that was the STSC Connection Symposium. Be sure to join us on the first Sunday of next month for the next one, which may very well be on the topic of Speed. Who knows?
As always I will end here by noting our eternally grateful for all of the support this project receives. We appreciate the time that people take to read our work, and to share it and comment on it. It is never taken for granted.
And of course we are immensely thankful for all of the contributors and for those who help keep the STSC going via their kind support. Over the coming months we are going to really get into the logistics of how to take this thing further and further offline and more into the real world.
Cheers.
TJB.
Thanks for your k8nd words, Tom. Really looking forward to reading the others in this cornucopia!