As part of the Casa Ubuntu Club's initiative "Oficinas dos saberes" (knowledge workshops), which aims to disseminate the informal skills of ESAG's teaching and non-teaching staff, the workshop "Being a writer in the 21st century: how to write a novel?" took place on March 8 (Wednesday), at 3:30 pm, in room P29
This workshop was given by Professor João Paulo Sousa, who belongs to the Portuguese Group (300), and who, besides his work as a teacher in our school, is also a writer, having already published several novels and essays on aesthetics, theater and literary criticism themes, which earned him several nominations and awards, such as the National Press/Vasco Graça Moura - 2019.
To answer the question that gave the motto to the Workshop, Professor João Paulo Sousa highlighted the importance that reading plays in the writing craft. In his opinion, it is not possible to start building an important novel without the writer having read what was thought and written by the great universal novelists. It is also important to live the novel, to plan all the details that can give it body and try to respond to the different anxieties that the narrative creates for the characters. In a gesture of authorial generosity, Professor João Paulo Sousa shared with the colleagues present the schemes, sketches and diagrams that were used to support the writing of his latest novel, entitled "Clausura". He also shared some beginnings of classic or more recent novels, which, in his opinion, illustrate the importance of the first sentences of a narrative, since they not only show the author's literary characteristics, which will develop during the writing process, but also appear as essential to seduce the reader.
The workshop ended with a challenge: the participants were invited to try to sketch the beginning (incipit) of a novel, putting themselves in the shoes of a character and seeing a certain scene through their eyes. At the end, everyone shared orally their text and the ideas it contained, which were quite curious and surprising. These proposals from the participating teachers could really make a good and captivating beginning to a narrative!
Thus, we thank Professor João Paulo Sousa for his availability, generosity and kindness, and the collaboration of the participants. Everyone made this workshop a relaxed moment of sharing, learning and valuing the Portuguese language.
Comments