Keats Society

[Raphael]

It might be cool to do a live chat someday--we can do *that* as Keats Society, I think. It would, of course, be very cool if we could live chat via Wimba or Skype something, but even just a group text chat in an online chat room is certainly doable, I'd think. Anyone up for that?

I would if I had the web at home. I think there must be a Keats society here in Britian. I'll have to have a look...

[Fortuna]

It is so amusing to read our conversations from two years ago in these forums were we entertained the idea of meeting up. I know it is has been such a long time since I regularly browsed these forums, but I have thought of you all often over the last two years. The other day, I was wondering if I turned up to Keats' old home in London some years down the track on his birthday or some other auspicious date, if I may run into one of you there who are also honouring his memory, and not even know it .

Nevertheless, I would be quite open to an online discussion if one was to be organised.

Or (well not really either or) how would you feel about starting a group letter thing? I heard of this charming project where people pass art diaries around to friends or perfect strangers and the instructions in each diary state that you must draw/write/paint whatever on a page and pass the book on. The idea is that it becomes a collaborative piece of work that gets passed around and finds itself all over the world. I think it may be a lot of fun if we organised some way of writing handwritten letters to each other, not unlike the ones Keats sent and received to his friends? If it's not too bulky, we could pass them on one by one to each other like a chain, adding one more letter to the conversation every time, and the last person who receives it can scan them all and share them with everyone?

Please feel free to tear this last idea apart. It is almost midnight and I am tired from my daily NaNoWriMo attempt and I may not be thinking clearly .

[Malia]

Fortuna! My goodness it has been forever since we've seen you 'round these parts. Welcome back
We will definitely have to see if we can put together at least an IM Chat room so we can all "meet" and talk in real-time someday. I think it would be excellent fun.

But you know, I love your idea of a traveling letter--written by hand with real paper, pen & ink! Letter-writing is a dying art these days, it is sad but so true. If you are interested in starting a "letter from and to Keatsians around the world" I would be absolutely inclined to participate! It would be a lot of fun. Of course, I'd have to ask, where would such a letter end? Who would be the keeper of the tome after we'd finished it?

[Raphael]

I think both ideas are great- however I'm such a slow typist that live chats online are hard for me I'm always keeping the other person waiting as I'm so slow! What I long for the most though is a local Keats/literature group or society where people meet up monthly and get to spend the evening talking about poems and other marvellous things!

[Saturn]

I'm sure such a thing exists in a big city like Liverpool Raphael, worth doing a search for that when you're next online I'm sure. I've long dreamed of such a real group of friends, a literary coterie I could relax, have fun with and debate such things, but alas friendship or being in groups of people is something I'm terrible at, even if such a thing existed.

[Fortuna]

I remember when we first introduced this thread of having a 'Keats Society' and I remember feeling so excited at the prospect, yet mingled with a mild sense of disappointment because I knew how difficult it would be to get together. However, I am in a different place to where I was two years ago... during that time I have graduated, gotten married, bought my own apartment, and began a postgraduate degree with great opportunities for travel. Circumstances change and I think if we really wanted to, we could definitely get a meet up happening some time in the future .

But of course, for now, I am very thankful to have this forum to steal away to every now and then when I want to discuss Keats to not just people who appreciate him, but know who he is, or read poetry.

And Malia! I'm so glad I am still remembered!

Hmm, regarding the letter writing project, the final person should be someone with access to a scanner so we would have the opportunity to see everyone's contributions. I am not too fussed about who gets to keep the final treasures, as long as I get to see them all in one form or another . In dreaming up this idea, I imagined I might be the first to start it off so that no one who is interested in participating will be stuck with the 'bill' of having to mail a letter to Australia (not that it is that expensive, in fact, I received a gift from the US postmarked for less than the price than it would have cost me to mail that item within my own country!)

I would love to write ALL of you a letter anyway, but if anyone else is interested in participating in this project, I'd be happy to collect postal addresses and work out the nuts and bolts?

Not that I want to go overboard, but it may also be an idea (maybe even for another future project) to write in Regency style just for fun. Friends keep giving me quills, ink and wax stamps for my birthday and I am saddened to admit that I have found very little opportunities to use them. I received a letter recently from an artist friend who traded me some of her artworks and her letter was sealed with a tassie gem-like wax seal and it was such a thrill to open!

[Raphael]

I'm loving your ideas!