Europe 2003 - Part 8: Thoughts in a Rome restaurant and Munich, Bavaria

The France grape-picking work date has moved - harvest now begins on the 23rd which annoyingly shortens my European trip.

While waiting for the train to Munich, I began reading into a writer’s magazine that John Waddell gave me at the Harrow Writer’s workshop. Jon writes in Scots and his book of prose is available at Corbett’s bookshop in Pinner. Siobhan Curham, another good friend is doing a signing at the same Pinner bookshop - I hope you can check her novel out ladies - it’s a stormer.

Back to the subject. An article on the Petra Kenney awards mentioned two personalities. Josephine Austin, she’s published some of my work in a magazine (OR Ive seen her work) and Dr. Leo Aylen. When I set up the CreativeWritingSociety at the University of Bath, Leo took an honorary role as writer-in-residence. He affiliated with me and my society, but a competition and a (now forgotten) set of misbelieved conclusions made me (and my committee) launch an opposing position, and in his place arrived a new writer-in-residence. I mention him because I was thinking about his striking self - a deep, intellectual and passionate demeanour, it’s engine driven from strong coffee fed to the metaphoric horse. Thanks Leo, you left a mark!

If you ever read this Leo - “Wide Closed Spaces” didn’t do too well - you were in some ways right, and I annulled the loan obtained from my university. Nevertheless when I am back to university in October, I shall restart the society with an experienced outlook and make readings loud and alcoholic. At the time of noting these thoughts, it is head-up time for me to look up my choo-choo noise machine to Munich.

Sorry about these late posts! A lot has happened here in Munich which I’ll post on the next entry. The next post will continue narrating my travelogue so far in usual madman stylee.