Chorality, On Retreat: A Writers' Residency

That was the table, yes, that was the place where I found them last. They sat side-by-side, sipping on apple juice. It was dark outside, or maybe it was bright daylight and there were no windows. Occasionally, they would shift in their seats, but ever-so slightly, as if not to disturb the quiet between them, or the noise around them, or the tree—real or plastic, I do not know— planted right in the middle of the room. I remember thinking, How odd, one is writing, one is reading, but there is simultaneity in their work, or nearsynchronicity. As if one were reading the other’s text precisely while it was being written—errors, omissions, deletions, last-minute changes of heart and all. I walked toward them, sat at their table, remembered.

Eight poets, fiction writers and essayists were invited to join a residency program throughout the summer of 2012, at a table in the Dschingis Khan Restaurant, at one end of the Karlsaue park in Kassel. A place for private fiction in a public space, the restaurant table functioned as a pause, a place of recollection, of reading and writing, in which the participants to the residency are invited simply to do what they would normally do: write. Visitors were invited to discover the work of the writers-in-residence, and when they stepped into the restaurant looking for a table—who knows?—perhaps they were inserting themselves into the work of fiction.
When we read, there is a voice inside our minds that narrates aloud, but silently, in what has been termed a “subvocalization.” Our accelerated way of life—the dissemination of speed-reading techniques, for example—dissolves that voice. In response, the Writers’ Residency sought moments of “chorality”: instances of mutual commitment, whether loud or muted; the possibility that voices could meet and join together, without the outright demand that they should.
Through its location in the Dschingis Khan Restaurant, the Writers’ Residency investigated the possibilities of privacy in a public space. In addition, through a series of talks, writers-in-residence were offered the possibility of a public moment during their time in Kassel. Having developed out of conversations and readings during the residencies, these talks encouraged the choral meeting and exchange of voices.

RESIDENCY PARTICIPANTS & PROGRAMS

HOLLY PESTER
August 22 – 26, 2012
Holly Pester is a sound poet and researcher based in London. She has performed at text, art and poetry events including the Prague MicroFestival, 2012; StAnza Festival, St. Andrews, Scotland, 2011; Text Festival, Bury, 2011 and the Serpentine Gallery Poetry Marathon, London, 2009. She is researching Sound Poetry and its Intermedial Field for a practice-led PhD at Birkbeck, University of London. Holly Pester’s collection, Hoofs, was released with if p then q press in 2011. Her work experiments in frequencies of speech, song and articulated noise.

MARIE DARRIEUSSECQ
August 27 – 30, 2012
Marie Darrieussecq is a writer based in Paris with a background in psychoanalysis. She deals with subjects such as disappearance and absence, memory, identity, and belonging. A born humanist, writing for her is about leaving one’s own skin and going towards the Other. She has written ten novels, a non-fiction book, a play and a translation of Ovid’s Sorrows and Letters from the Black Sea. Darrieussecq contributes articles to the journals ArtReview (London) and Beaux Arts (Paris).
Public conversations
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2012. 3 PM
VENUE ANNOUNCED SOON
ALWAYS ALREADY DISAPPEARING, PART 1
Marie Darrieussecq and Lucia Pietroiusti
Booking not required
(English)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2012. 7 PM
VENUE ANNOUNCED SOON
ALWAYS ALREADY DISAPPEARING, PART 2
Marie Darrieussecq and Lucia Pietroiusti
Booking not required
(English)

ALEJANDRO ZAMBRA
September 1 – 9, 2012
Alejandro Zambra is a writer based in Santiago, Chile whose first novel Bonsai (2006) has contributed to renewing contemporary Chilean literature. He is author of two poetry collections, a book of essays, and the later novels: La vida privada de los árboles (The Private Lives of Trees, 2007) and Formas de volver a casa (Ways of Going Home, 2011).
Public talk & book presentation
Sunday, September 2, 2012. 11 am
STÄNDEHAUS (BODE-SAAL)
FORMAS DE VOLVER A CASA (DIE ERFINDUNG DER KINDHEIT)
Free with dOCUMENTA (13) ticket
(Spanish with consecutive translation to German)
This talk coincides with the presentation of Zambra’s book as part of Paper Mornings: Book Presentations at dOCUMENTA (13).

ENRIQUE VILA-MATAS
September 11 – 16, 2012
Enrique Vila-Matas is a novelist, essayist, and one of the best known contemporary European storytellers. His works include Dublinesca (2011), Never Any End to Paris (2011), Montano’s Malady (2007), and Bartleby & Co. (2004), amongst many others. He mixes fact, fiction, autobiography, and other genres into a smooth prose that speaks about everything, but largely about literature itself.
Public talk
Friday, September 14, 2012. 4 pm
STÄNDEHAUS (BODE-SAAL)
ARCHIVO DE HUELLAS
(Spanish with consecutive translation into English)

ETEL ADNAN
June 9 – 29, 2012
Etel Adnan is a painter, poet, and writer based in Sausalito, California and Paris, with a singular voice in the cultural discourses of the Middle East. Born in Beirut, where she spent her early life, she studied literature and philosophy at Harvard University, La Sorbonne, and University of California, Berkeley. Recent publications include Master of the Eclipse (2009), Seasons (2008), and In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country (2005).
Public talk & book presentation
Sunday, June 24, 2012. 11 am
STÄNDEHAUS (BODE-SAAL)
FOR ETEL ADNAN WRITING IS THE SHADOW OF PAINTING
AND PAINTING IS THE SHADOW OF WRITING
Free with dOCUMENTA (13) ticket
(English)
This talk coincides with the presentation of Adnan’s book as part of Paper Mornings: Book Presentations at dOCUMENTA (13)

AARON PECK
July 1 – 15, 2012
Aaron Peck is a Vancouver-based writer and the author of The Bewilderments of Bernard Willis (2008), part novel, part meditation on the role of reading and language in culture. His art criticism and journalism have appeared in Art Agenda, Artforum.com, Art Papers, Canadian Art, Fillip, Foam, and La Fabrica’s Matador. He currently teaches at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
Public talk
Wednesday, July 11, 2012. 4 pm
ORANGERIE CAFÉ
THAT SOUND SHOULD HAVE BEEN OUR TITLE:
EKPHRASIS AND THE NOVEL
Booking not required
(English)

MARIO BELLATIN
July 16 – 23, 2012
Mario Bellatin is a novelist based in Mexico City best known for his fragmented writing, which artfully intertwines reality and creation. Bellatin’s recent publications include Beauty Salon (English trans. 2009), Chinese Checkers (English trans. 2007), The Large Glass (2007) and Flores (2004). He was Director of the Dynamic School of Writers in Mexico City.
Film preview & public talk
Saturday, July 21, 2012. 4 pm
STÄNDEHAUS (BODE-SAAL)
BOLA NEGRA: EL MUSICAL DE CIUDAD JUÁREZ…
Free with dOCUMENTA (13) ticket
(Spanish with consecutive translation to German)

ADANIA SHIBLI
July 23 – August 6, 2012
Adania Shibli is a writer based in Ramallah and Berlin who breaks with the traditions of modern Arabic fiction and speaks of Palestine through what might appear as insignificant events. In Touch (English trans. 2010), for example, one of her best known works, the history of a country is constructed through a young woman’s everyday experiences. Shibli is also engaged in academic research and teaching.
Public talk
Saturday, July 28. 4 pm
DSCHINGIS KHAN RESTAURANT, KARLSAUE PARK
WITH AN INK CLOT IN HAND
Booking not required
(English)