Worldwide Literary Collaboration Abounds at Bookstacks Isle

Home

Books & Publishing

Books&Publishing Islands

Text and Photos By: LEONARDO ZIMRING

Bookstacks2_350

Bookstacks, on the island sim of Awen (the name means 'poetic spirit' in Welsh), is fast becoming one of the central venues for literary events and discussions in Second Life. Run by the genial Kghia Gerardi and Simeon Beresford, it has recently formed an alliance with the U.K. Writer's Guild to enable that latter group to have a more high prim space than they had in their former open sim. Thus Harriet Gausman's Writer's Guild events now join with the already impressive roster of events hosted by Bookstacks to make Arwen the place to landmark if one is in any interested in the literary side of SL.

Recently, I asked Kghia how Bookstacks started. "I belong to a book-swap web site, bookmooch.com. One of the owners organized a gathering for interested members of the group in Second Life -- a virtual meet up. Members from LibraryThing.com were also invited. Many of us at that first meeting enjoyed it so much, and Second Life as well, that we met again the next Sunday, followed by the next and the next, etc. Many of those Sunday regulars are still my dear friends here. After a few months, we began talking about how to expand the group beyond the social into more structured book discussions. By that point, I was volunteering at the Whitehorn Library in Caledon and attending some of the discussions there. Simeon had acquired some mainland that we used as our first Bookstacks location."

This early location did not quite work out however. There were the inevitable lag issues as well as, in Kghia's words, some "risque mainland neighbors". This caused Kghia and Simeon to invest in a full sim with a great deal more space that they could initially use. But the upside was that it has allowed them to expand in very profitable ways down the track.

The early focus of Bookstacks was in book discussions and literary trivia nights, of the kind held in pubs all over the U.K. Simeon, who is himself Welsh, is the driving force behind the trivia nights. The attendance at these "fluctuates wildly", as he himself says, but they of course provide the literary scene with some much needed fun. "Fun," as Simeon says, "is the key as far as I'm concerned."

But even the book discussions are designed with fun in mind. Kghia recalled that it was "an absolute blast" to host a discussion of Alice in Wonderland in the form of a Mad Hatter's tea party, dressed as the Queen of Hearts.

"The literary scene in SL is evolving," she says, "and I'm excited by its growth. We are hearing more voices from more places. And there is an audience for any genre a person wants to discuss - steampunk novels, Emerson's essays, and erotic poetry. I can't wait to see how we (the collective we) take advantage of the immersive nature of SL to take the discussions in new ways (for example the Macbeth sim and Thursday's Fiction Grove). Second Life can be the equivalent of the Star Trek holodeck." (This writer waits, in fear and trembling, for the dress-up book discussion of Bram Stoker's Dracula.)
Bookstacks1_350

From these beginnings as a venue for book-related discussions, Bookstacks has grown to encompass other activities. For example, it now hosts the poetry readings of Poetry Libre, hosted by the present writer and Serene Bechir, and this event regularly fills the very cozy pub environment next to the cafe. In fact the cafe itself has SL books for sale, which could mean, at some future time, that people will be able to listen to poetry and buy the works of authors that they are interested in.

Bookstacks has also recently begun to move into the art gallery scene. A collaboration with the Kelly Yap Artist Gallery has meant that some exhibits from each show is displayed on Bookstacks Isle. This gives the Kelly Yap Gallery additional exposure as well as rounding out the visual environment of Arwen. Given the space available it is easy to see this idea expanding in the future.

Of all the literary modes only theater seems to be the red-headed step-child. Kghia herself professes little interest in theater beyond Shakespeare. So theater itself is not a direction that Bookstacks is likely to go. I asked her if she sees any future role for Bookstacks in the burgeoning theater world: "Theater in SL is really just being born. It has never been my passion, other than as a viewer. But I could see us supporting the theater by offering follow-up discussions of a production, similar to what we do with films but with the advantage of bringing in the actors, writers, and others that helped produce it. I think that would be a lot of fun."

Overall, one can see the bias of Bookstacks shifting gradually over time. It began as a RL-directed discussion group -directed towards the literary works that are produced and consumed in RL - and, as more and more RL writers come into SL to promote their work or experiment with the freedom that SL brings, it has gradually shifted towards work that is produced in SL for SL audiences. And of course the distinction is largely illusory anyway. Any SL writer is writing per force in RL, for avatars produce nothing of themselves.

Given this I was particularly interested to know how both Simeon and Kghia view the SL literary scene, which seems to be expanding at a phenomenal rate. Kghia commented: "I think, as our community of readers and writers grows, it is starting to reflect the diversity of our interests. I can choose a venue that is offering a topic I'm interested in, not attend because it is my only option to be around others who appreciate the written word. There are bound to be growing pains as we work out our roles, but we will get past that. We all want a strong, rich community and that comes through whenever you talk to anyone leading a discussion or creating a venue here."

Simeon added: "I think it needs people with strong ideas to take the helm. At the moment it is manned by a handful of idealists that are catering to a very small audience. As to the number of organizations I think that long term they will form closer links. We have between us far more land and resources than we need and we will find ways cut back on that. More and more of the smaller groups will question their need to have their own venue and start to use one of the larger venues. I think most of the large places will survive and we try to stay on good terms with all of them. Certainly we try and publicize their events."

And so Bookstacks is likely to become one of the hubs of literary activity in SL, mixing whimsy with seriousness, and taking a more central role in the literary productions of SL residents. All under the watchful eye of the Queen of Hearts.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Awen/116/155/24/?title=Bookstacks

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Awen/219/73/24/?title=Milkwood%20at%20Bookstacks%20Isle

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites