A workshop for potential literature (you have been warned) - Bill Kirton
by Bill Kirton A novel with no e. There are plenty of examples of writers who’ve produced great stuff by imposing restrictions on themselves. Beckett wrote in French to stop himself giving in to his facility with English. The French classical dramatists interpreted the ‘rules’ of Aristotle very tightly and had to write in Alexandrines and stick to the 3 unities. But their constraints were easy to cope with compared with the things the members of a group called Oulipo do. I’d vaguely heard about them before but was reminded of them when I listened to a BBC podcast. It seems writing’s not hard enough, so they impose artificial constraints to make it even trickier. The name comes from a French expression meaning ‘workshop for potential literature’. (It could only be French, couldn’t it?) The group’s been going for fifty-odd years and you can only join if you’re invited to. If you ask to become a member, that guarantees that you never will. Mind you, when you hear the so...