Exercises from the Energheia Writing Course 2024

Hallo, my name is Inigo Montoya

Teacher: Tabea Hawkins (Energheia International Writing Course 2024)

Theme: If this colour was a person… automatic writing exercise

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I went on a ramble

Red so dark it is almost black. This colour is so far away from roses. The blood has dried. The berries are poisonous. There is something so deep about this colour that you would struggle to keep your head above water.

If this colour was a person, they might look the opposite. There are things hidden here. They might be fair-skinned, light-haired and eyed…but can you feel the danger? Does it radiate, or is it hidden, because black sometimes is hard to spot? Does it even exist?

It is in the shadow of blue things, and it’s easy to get cliché here I think so I need to try and stay away from that. (Is dark red cliché??) Blood, red, theatre, velvet curtains, poisonous apple, snow white, but also luxurious, sensual, sex, irresistible, smooth, warm, soft, fire. The inside of a tulip. This is us at the very core. A burning ember. A tiny thing.

A burning volcano. A sleeping volcano, inside. What else… This person is completely themselves, but this feels like a contradiction now. Red is a contradiction. This person overshadows other colours, adding earth into the soup.

Tara van Gent