The passion for creative writing continues to flourish in Xàbia year after year, through workshops promoted by the local council and led by writer Marta Catalá. Evidence of this growth was the short story recital held last Thursday at the Casa de Cultura, which saw twenty-three participants.
These were fictional stories, some with autobiographical touches, covering a wide range of emotions and themes, from humor, tenderness, and innocence to nostalgia, lost dreams, revelations, pain, abuse of power, control, and personal defeats. In essence, they reflect experiences that most people have lived or suffered at some point.
Each participant selected one of the works created during the course for the recital. Weekly exercises, limited to a maximum of 270 words to cultivate conciseness, started from various premises. These included memories of school lunches, a story with a final revelation and a radical change of fortune, a circular narrative where the end connects to the beginning, a dialogue between a historical and a fictional character, the appearance of a stranger disrupting the narrative, the observation of a street fight and the subsequent reaction, or exploring gender perspectives by narrating from the opposite viewpoint. Female participation remains overwhelmingly dominant, with a ratio of four to one.
“"Writing stories and sharing them in the group, to give and receive constructive and useful criticism, the drive to write and communicate. Fiction writing especially seeks its ideal reader, that person who doesn't exist but we have in mind, someone whose eyes will light up with each story."
Marta Catalá, author of over half a dozen published works, expertly managed the presentation and introduction of each story. She explained that while writing is a solitary activity, it also has a social dimension rooted in the desire to communicate. Catalá considers the annual recital a 'very stimulating' opportunity to move beyond the intimate classroom setting and share creations with a broader audience.
