Workshops

The Scribble Wibble Project

Start date: January 9, 2009 - ongoing
Time: 3-5pm
Venue: Today’s Youth Asia office at Babarmahal Revisited
Facilitator: Ayushma Regmi

Every day we watch words die. They die as we read them in newspapers, in textbooks, in novels and in poetry. They die as we read them over and over again, as we overload them with the same meaning repeatedly. They die in the clichéd value we have given them. They die in a false sense of mediocrity. But words deserve a second chance.

If you are prepared to sharpen your words, to scribble new meaning into them, to enjoy the firecrackers waiting to explode in them, if you are willing to mold a masterpiece out of the flickering flame of your mind, come join us. Experiment with words in ways you have never imagined before. Help us bring these ghosts to life.

V.E.N.T! Magazine brings you the Scribble Wibble Project, a four month long experiment in writing that attempts to enlarge the scope of the written word. In 90 minute sessions on a bi-weekly basis, participants will be encouraged to write, argue, share, and collaborate with each other and generate an impressive portfolio through this ideal and encouraging platform. 

About Ayushma Regmi
Ayushma recently completed her Bachelor’s in English Literature from St. Stephen’s College, India, and has begun a Masters in Development Studies at Kathmandu University, Nepal. Her primary interest lies in education and she has pursued this in a number of ways. She spent a semester at Rishi Valley School, India, where she participated in an individualized study program on alternative education. Her experiences of these months have left a profound impact on her life and reconfirmed her belief that children teach us more than we can ever hope to teach them. She is currently working in the capacity of library coordinator for Open Learning Exchange Nepal, an NGO that has collaborated with the One Laptop Per Child Program to provide laptops equipped with additional educational materials to children in rural public schools. Her work includes building a digital archive catering to the needs of Nepali school going children as well as teachers. She is deeply interested in poetry and along with writing, she is a poems editor for VENT! Magazine.

Fiction and Non-Fiction Writing

December 12, 2009 and December 13, 2009
Time: 12:30-4:30pm
Venue: Today’s Youth Asia office at Babarmahal Revisited
Facilitator: Sushma Joshi

V.E.N.T! Magazine teamed up with author, journalist and filmmaker Sushma Joshi to present a 2-day writing workshop. The Fiction Writing workshop provided participants with an opportunity to sharpen their writing skills through sessions that focus on different aspects of story writing. The Non-Fiction Writing workshop offered participants with the opportunity to take a deeper look at the genre of non-fiction writing. In this interactive workshop, participants discussed and analyzed articles, and emerged with knowledge on the basic principles of this genre and experimented with a bit of on the spot writing.

About Sushma Joshi
Sushma Joshi's "End of the World" short story collection was long listed for the Frank O Connor International Short Story Award. She edited "New Nepal, New Voices."  Her stories have been published in Kyoto Journal (Japan), Asian Cha (Hong Kong), Buran (Italy), Das Grefrorene Meer (Germany), East of the Web and other publications in Vietnam, Philippines and the USA. She has also made short films. "The Escape," is about a school teacher who runs away from a band of guerilla Maoists who come to kill him, was accepted to the Berlinale's Talent Campus in 2007. "Water" was shown on CNN International and other festivals. Sushma has a B.A. in international relations from Brown University, and a M.A. in English Literature from Middlebury College. She is also a columnist for the Kathmandu Post. Her articles are archived on her non-fiction blog: http://www.sushma.blogspot.com.

Pictures from the workshop

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Documentary Photojournalism 

June 6, 2009 and June 13, 2009 
Time: 1-4pm and 1-5pm
Venue: USEF, Gyaneshwor, Kathmandu
Facilitator: Liz Lance

V.E.N.T. Magazine teamed up with American Fulbright Scholar Liz Lance to present an introduction to documentary photojournalism workshop, taught over two consecutive Saturdays. Liz discussed the basic tenets of photojournalism and the elements of visual storytelling. The first session focused on theory, emphasizing group discussion to better understand photo stories, as well as offering examples of professional photo stories by Nepali and Western photographers. The first session also included a practical group exercise in editing a photo story. Liz showed examples of her multimedia work. In the week between the two sessions, students were given a homework assignment to shoot and edit their own photo stories on assigned subjects. The second session focused almost exclusively on critiquing the stories the students have shot over the previous week. Selected works were featured on V.E.N.T! Magazine.

About Liz Lance
Liz Lance is an American Fulbright Scholar in Journalism who has spent the last eight months in Nepal working on a documentary photo story on what beauty, body image and femininity means to young women in Nepal and how it is influenced by the mass media. Liz holds a bachelor’s degree in South Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and has completed post-baccalaureate coursework in Nepali language, literature and culture at Tribhuvan University’s Bhishwa Bhasha campus in Nepal. Liz has also completed graduate work in documentary photography at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine, and was a participant at the Missouri Photo Workshop in 2007. She begins her master’s degree in journalism at the University of Missouri in August, 2009.

Pictures from the workshop

Sponsor
This workshop was sponsored in part by the Commission for Educational Exchange between the United States and Nepal. The Fulbright Program is an international educational exchange program established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright. Its purpose is to increase mutual understanding and peaceful relations between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright program emphasizes scholarly interchange and academic excellence with awards based on open competition.

For updates about future workshops and to view more pictures from the workshops, join our Facebook group.

Creative Writing 

May 16, 2009
Time: 1-4pm
Venue: Crehpa, Kusunti, Kathmandu
Facilitator: Ayushma Regmi

The creative writing workshop was conducted with the vision of helping young people to engage freely and confidently in the process of writing. As a first workshop, it combined exercises that encouraged participants to think out of their comfort zones in order to make new meaning out of existing circumstances. A lot of emphasis was given to paying attention to one's senses and what they evoke. Writing in a collective setting can often be difficult for amateur writers, but the participants easily came out of their inhibitions and enjoyed sharing their work with each other. In future workshops, we aim to go into more depth within various genres of writing, helping participants to generate an impressive portfolio in the long run.

About Ayushma Regmi
Ayushma recently completed her Bachelor’s in English Literature from St. Stephen’s College, India, and has begun a Masters in Development Studies at Kathmandu University, Nepal. Her primary interest lies in education and she has pursued this in a number of ways. She spent a semester at Rishi Valley School, India, where she participated in an individualized study program on alternative education. Her experiences of these months have left a profound impact on her life and reconfirmed her belief that children teach us more than we can ever hope to teach them. She is currently working in the capacity of library coordinator for Open Learning Exchange Nepal, an NGO that has collaborated with the One Laptop Per Child Program to provide laptops equipped with additional educational materials to children in rural public schools. Her work includes building a digital archive catering to the needs of Nepali school going children as well as teachers. She is deeply interested in poetry and along with writing, she is a poems editor for VENT! Magazine. 

Pictures from the workshop

For updates about future workshops and to view more pictures from the workshops, join our  Facebook group.