A Women's Library ...
"The Ark of Women has been founded by an international committee of sibyls in order to guard and encourage women's creativity. Every woman who has ever lived has deposited here her book: her story or novel or collection of poems or autobiography. On the Ark time doesn't work normally and nor do clocks: all the stories, from past present and future, are here, rubbing shoulders in the dark. Some composed at home, some dictated to friends, some written during the writer's stay on the Ark. The Ark is not only an archive: it is a rest home that swims, a workshop that floats, a bubble of temporary retreat for women who need time to write away from their families and domestic cares.
The Ark's bookstack, extending over many decks, contains all the varied clashing aspects of women's imaginations expressed in books. These can be called up by a classification system of great subtlety, based on the crystalline thought processes of the unconscious, designed by a committee of poets. Men's books are of course available, on inter-library loan. Please see the catalogue.
Aids to study on the Ark include comfortable cabins, beds in the reading room for those wishing to rest or dream, food and drink always available (supper, however, prepared on a volunteer rota basis), and a creche for those needing to bring their children.
Writing materials on offer include knotted strings, circular seals, blackboards and chalk, wampum belts, message tallies, tablets of clay and ivory and wood, oracle bones, slabs of gold and silver and wax, shards of pottery, strips of cloth and papyrus and paper, sticks of bamboo, palm leaves, bits of birch bark, leather scrolls, rolls of parchment, copper plates, pen and ink, palettes and paintbrushes, sticks and dust-trays, printing presses, typewriters, tape recorders, word processors, etc.
Women come on board the Ark for a bit of peace and quiet in which to think about their lives and question them.
Women come here to develop their craft, to discuss work in progress, to give and take criticism and advice on redrafting, to share fears, failures, ideas.
Women who hate the very idea of writers workshops come here to get away from other women, to live in cells of silence and isolation, to be as selfish and unsisterly as they like.
Women come here to find out what it means to be a woman writer, whether in fact that matters, whether we aren't all just writers.
Women come here to free their imaginations, to learn to play again, to destroy.
Some rush home again. Some leap over the side in rage and despair. Others enjoy themselves. You can read all about the Ark in our records. Please ask at the main desk for further information."
from The Book of Mrs Noah, Michele Roberts, 1987
"The Ark of Women has been founded by an international committee of sibyls in order to guard and encourage women's creativity. Every woman who has ever lived has deposited here her book: her story or novel or collection of poems or autobiography. On the Ark time doesn't work normally and nor do clocks: all the stories, from past present and future, are here, rubbing shoulders in the dark. Some composed at home, some dictated to friends, some written during the writer's stay on the Ark. The Ark is not only an archive: it is a rest home that swims, a workshop that floats, a bubble of temporary retreat for women who need time to write away from their families and domestic cares.
The Ark's bookstack, extending over many decks, contains all the varied clashing aspects of women's imaginations expressed in books. These can be called up by a classification system of great subtlety, based on the crystalline thought processes of the unconscious, designed by a committee of poets. Men's books are of course available, on inter-library loan. Please see the catalogue.
Aids to study on the Ark include comfortable cabins, beds in the reading room for those wishing to rest or dream, food and drink always available (supper, however, prepared on a volunteer rota basis), and a creche for those needing to bring their children.
Writing materials on offer include knotted strings, circular seals, blackboards and chalk, wampum belts, message tallies, tablets of clay and ivory and wood, oracle bones, slabs of gold and silver and wax, shards of pottery, strips of cloth and papyrus and paper, sticks of bamboo, palm leaves, bits of birch bark, leather scrolls, rolls of parchment, copper plates, pen and ink, palettes and paintbrushes, sticks and dust-trays, printing presses, typewriters, tape recorders, word processors, etc.
Women come on board the Ark for a bit of peace and quiet in which to think about their lives and question them.
Women come here to develop their craft, to discuss work in progress, to give and take criticism and advice on redrafting, to share fears, failures, ideas.
Women who hate the very idea of writers workshops come here to get away from other women, to live in cells of silence and isolation, to be as selfish and unsisterly as they like.
Women come here to find out what it means to be a woman writer, whether in fact that matters, whether we aren't all just writers.
Women come here to free their imaginations, to learn to play again, to destroy.
Some rush home again. Some leap over the side in rage and despair. Others enjoy themselves. You can read all about the Ark in our records. Please ask at the main desk for further information."
from The Book of Mrs Noah, Michele Roberts, 1987
posted by spinster at 2/02/2006 09:49:00 am
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