La Trenca hosts first short-story marathon on the word 'sediments'
Around twenty authors wrote a story in two hours at the Andorra bookshop, with poet Manel Gibert drawing 'sediments' from an urn of ten themes.
Key Points
- About twenty authors, journalists, an editor and musicians took part in La Trenca's first short-story marathon on Saturday 17 October.
- Poet Manel Gibert drew 'sediments' from an urn containing ten broad themes prepared by organisers.
- Participants had two hours to write; some switched to pen and paper or plugged in laptops after battery issues, and a coffee was spilled.
- Organisers plan to publish the stories in a volume and are considering making the marathon an annual event.
Around twenty authors took part in La Trenca bookshop's first short-story marathon on the morning of Saturday 17 October, each given two hours to write a story inspired by a single word.
Organisers had prepared ten broad themes, placed in an urn, and poet Manel Gibert drew the paper that set the starting point for everyone: "sediments". Participants then had two hours to shape their own stories.
Bookseller Haydée Vila said two close collaborators had proposed the idea and that they had developed it together. She added that she was immediately enthusiastic about the proposal.
Among the writers taking part were Àlvar Valls, Roser Carol, Manel Gibert, Eva Arasa, Albert Villaró, Nil Forcada, Marc Cortés, Laura Casanovas, David Gálvez, Gabriel Fernández, Txema Díaz-Torrent, Noemí Rodríguez, Alan Ward, Alexandra Grebennikova, Albert Font and Bru Bruya. Journalists Unai Viñals and Andrés Luengo also joined, along with editor Jan Arimany and musicians Toni Gibert and Oriol Vilella.
Beyond the writing itself, the initiative aimed to give people connected to writing and the arts a shared space to discuss the creative process and to celebrate the pleasure of writing in company, without giving up each participant's own voice, rhythm and style. Writer Eva Arasa described the initiative as a chance to play with writing and to spend time with others in the literary world, though she admitted she was not sure how inspired she would be.
The marathon brought minor mishaps. Several participants discovered their laptops had less battery than expected and either switched to pen and paper or moved inside the bookshop to plug in. A coffee was also spilled amid the closely packed tables.
After the writing session, the gathering continued with an aperitif open to everyone, during which some participants read fragments of the texts written that morning.
The texts are to be published in a volume, once the authors have revised and delivered final versions. Organisers said the response exceeded their initial expectations and that they are now considering making the marathon an annual event.
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