It was to become a short story, in English and had three months pull it of. That was the “Pinching the Ostrich” assignment Venetia Thompson had in store for me at the beginning of this summer.
Venetia is a freelance writer and contributor to The Spectator, The Daily Beast, The Jewish Chronicle and GQ and author of Gross Misconduct - My Year of Excess in the City (Simon and Schuster), whom I had the pleasure of interviewing at the 2010 AII conference in Rotterdam.
To cut a long story short, I failed her. Terribly. I didn’t write a short story, I didn’t do it in English and it didn’t take three months to write.
It became “Somniyum - a Dream’s Journey”, a 230 pages youth novel, in Dutch, written in 2,5 months, which will also be performed by no less than 100 artistic roller skaters in May 2011 as part of a completely new and unprecedented experience concept, and is about to take physical form tomorrow evening as the first couple of 100 issues will ship.
I don’t know about you, but that is the kind of failure I would love to see happen any given day. :-)
To give you a rough idea about what the book is about, this is the text on the back cover.
Every night a mysterious part in each and everyone of us, travels to a world just past our last awaken blink.
A realm where it feeds on all things needed to realise our wildest dreams.
What if that place were to disappear for good?
What would become of our dreams?
What would become of us?
This is the tale of a little girl that holds the faiths of both worlds in the palm of her hand.
This is Somniyum...
Venetia’s request coincided with the preparations for the new skating season we had in July. As you may recall, there was this other rather peculiar skating challenge just a few months prior to that. (click here)
During that meeting I took it upon me to write no more than two sheets on how we could create the proper tension during the skating show. We knew the lead character was going to be called Milly and that she would have to face 4 challenges during a journey in a dream world.
That was it, so I started writing. But first I wanted to get to know Milly. I wanted to imagine her as an actual person. And before I knew it, I was 20 pages into a story I started to realise wasn’t an exercise in creating tension on stage...it was the beginning of a book. And so I let my pen follow the story as it unfolded before my eyes.
2,5 Months later, “Somniyum” was finished. And what was intended as a little exercise had completely devoured me.
Milly and her journey through the four regions of Myrus: Nubiya the realm of Wishes, Fluydes the Kingdom of Ideas, Piriyus, the world of Willpower and Terriyo, the place of Engagement has captured not only my imaginantion.
It set of a ripple effect I could not have foreseen. Carl De Cleen, a friend and business parter at Offides immediately believed in what the story stands for and offered to build the Events website: www.somniyum.com . He also did the amazing art work on the symbols of Myrus’ four regions.
Robert Meyvisch, a friend I have known for almost 25 years now, set off to design the brand. There’s Ivy Barend, barely a teenager, but what a talent. She did the drawings in the book. Tanja Katzmann, a goldsmith manufactured a set of hand made jewelry based on the Y in
“Somniyum”. And that’s not to mention over 100 people at RollerSchool Brasschaat that have somehow become absorbed by “Somniyum” and are now creating a skating event that will blow everyone’s mind, not in the least yours truly’s.
As far as I know, it hasn’t happened before that a book and a skating performance have inspired, influenced and ultimately have created each other simultaneously. Allowing not only the skaters to become the character they have triggered themselves, but also inviting the public to experience the event on a completely different level: They will come and watch the book that was based on what they are watching.
I cannot tell you how totally thrilled I am, with what I am allowed to be a part of. The people I have the honour and pleasure of working
with are all of them mere mortals with jobs, kids to raise and bills to pay. Non of them are professional performers or event organisers. None of the kids that will skate “Somniyum” next may are the best of the best on an individual basis.
All those involved are defined by the one thing they do have, and that is their common passion and firm believe in what “Somniyum” stands for: the opportunity to be a valued part of something larger than any of us had ever dared think of.
Needless to say that all profits made with the book are to support the event itself.
So if you can read Dutch (planning an English version, but I honestly wouldn’t knew when to do all that) and would like to support the Skating event, do please buy the book. If you’re in the neighbourhood 20th, 21st or 22nd of May 2011, make your ticket reservations pronto.
And yes, Venetia, I know. No matter how exited I am about what your assignment triggered, I did fail you.
Between you and I though...I couldn’t care less. :-p
Thank you so much for this assignment!!!
Take care, Karl
PS: A very special thanks to Ingrid, Inge, Rudy and my darling wife An, the other 4 members on the board of RSB. Thank you for believing!
