Freedom in Writing
2015-05-05
News
A group of teenagers with big plans and endless imaginations followed Aram Pachyan's first piece of advice on finding the finest from the "fog of their imagination" and putting it down on paper during the four week "Permission to Write" workshop with Pachyan.
In Pachyan's opinion, the one thing that teenagers should always make an effort to preserve is their freedom. He conducted various literary activities to assist students to question and criticize their impressions of literature and writing.
"Ultimately, one of our goals was to free ourselves of certain limitations and simply live an experience," said Pachyan.
The students put their skills to the test by trying different techniques. One technique was to limit the use of common words in their writing. Another was listening to an excerpt from de Cervantes's "Don Quixote" and continuing to make up the rest of the tale.
Students created collages from texts found in newspapers, and constructed stories in their minds to tell to the rest of the group without writing down a single word. They even wrote under the sound of a Tibetan singing bowl, believed to encourage relaxation and concentration.
The workshop resulted in eleven stories in Armenian, all of which differ from one another in style, concept and spirit. Find them below.
