Literaire Studentenvereniging Flanor

Hi everyone! Today, I (Leah) would like to introduce you to Eigen Werk: the group within Flanor that is all about creative writing.

Nearly three years ago, I joined my first Eigen Werk meeting, and since the start of this academic year, I have been leading the group with great pleasure. What I like most about Eigen Werk is meeting people with whom I can share my love for literature and creative writing. I also enjoy the writing exercises we do; in my experience, doing these exercises is a great way to find motivation and inspiration to write. Multiple times, I have returned to the exercise after the meeting and worked it into a longer story.

We meet up once a month, usually with a group of five to eight people. I always prepare a writing exercise for us to do. For instance, last time I took the first couple of lines of a tale by Gabriel García Márquez and invited everyone to create a story based on those lines. Sometimes, I bring an interesting photograph or intriguing newspaper headline to use as inspiration. After we have done 30 to 60 minutes of writing, I invite everyone to read out their creations. Of course, you do not have to share anything if you do not feel comfortable. However, Eigen Werk is a safe space, and it is always super fun to hear what different, creative stories were prompted by a single exercise.

You are welcome to join us, whether you like writing short stories, poems, or even entire novels; whether you have major literary ambitions or just write for fun; whether you have never written anything before or write all day long. You can write in any language you want, and it also does not matter which genre you prefer: we have got members who enjoy fantasy, or romance, or magical realism, et cetera. All that matters is that you enjoy writing and meeting up with people who do so as well. Eigen Werk is a very social group: often, we have dinner together first, and after the writing part is over, we always hang around to chat some more.

I hope I have sparked your interest in joining Eigen Werk. You are always welcome to visit a meeting and see if it is something for you! The link to join our Whatsapp group can be found on the website.