All posts by Gwen Minor

Stories From the Ancient World
The Iliad

Ancient World Now….eleven days…..

Podcast launch date: Monday, June 14, 2010.

First episode: The Iliad 20-30 minute podcast.

This bronze statue of Achilles is in Hyde Park, London. Built in 1822 as a tribute to Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, by “the Women of England”, it was cast from cannons won at the victories of
Salamanca, Vittoria, Toulouse, and Waterloo. The fig leaf was added later…the Victorians and all……

The Iliad means “The story of Ilium (Troy), but The Iliad is not the story of Troy, it is the story of Achilles. The story begins with these famous words:

“Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilleus
and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians…”

The great hero Achilles is miffed & lets everybody know it. Find out why in the first episode of Ancient World Now….

The Iliad

The Countdown Begins

Okay! The site is in place thanks to Piers & Polina and we’re ready to roll out the writing! Subscribe to the blog & you’ll be notified whenever a new story episode has been posted. From there, you simply download the mp3 and enjoy. The episodes run 20-30 minutes—just enough for commute time or a treadmill walk! The first episode is a reading of the Iliad story from my first book. I’ve thrown in a little discussion about the importance of the Trojan War cycle to the history of story, and viola! There it is! Oh, yeah, and you’ll get to hear my theme song…Sophia Ramos’ Shining Still. The countdown begins…

The Writing Life

Remis Velisque!

Remis Velisque means “with oars and sails; with all one’s might” in Latin.Okay. I don’t know where this is taking me, but are you along for the ride?

The publishing world is in flux. Authors have been talking about it for a few years now, wondering how we all need to change to adapt to the new technology. This is historic, folks. We are in a revolution. Think cuneiform, papyrus, moveable type. Think awesome. And I am ready to jump.

I am ready to embrace the new reality and make it my friend. Jump into the infinite space and enjoy the free fall. I am not going to worry about where or if I land. I’ll just do it and see what happens.

My intention: to offer my writing for free to whomever is interested! My stories and novels will be available as free podcasts from itunes and podiobooks. Read on to find out why this is a solution for me.

After years of writing and pursuing my unique interests in the ancient world, I published my first book with Scholastic in 2007, Read Aloud Plays: The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid. But with book publication comes the pressures of marketing, publicity, events, sales, networking, and positioning for the next work. All of these daily concerns are a severe drain to the body, mind, and spirit. Writers are held hostage by these demands that are so out-of-sync with their natural flow of research, reflection, and writing.

Jockeying for position has never been a part of my personality. In other words, I suck at schmoozing! I always feel the real insincerity of it so that what should be a great pleasure (meeting new people who love stories) is marred by the tense and uncomfortable reality of promotion. Very unnatural! With this new enterprise I hope to take back my power and put all my energy into my work. If you like it, hang with me and let’s enjoy the stories together!

The Writing Life

Grammateus!

Grammateus means “writer” in Greek.

Welcome to the blog!

Every season has its events. For the fall, my favorite event is San Francisco’s Litquake. This is Litquake’s 10th anniversary, so plenty of celebratory activities are planned. The eight-day festival culminates in the Lit Crawl, a 6-11 pm walk down Valencia/16th Street area stopping into cafes, bookstores, nightclubs, & even laundromats, to hear the spoken word. An event not to miss, as thousands of literary revelers crowd the Mission. Check out the line-up: http://www.litquake.org/

I’ll be doing a Litquake workshop for junior high students on Thursday, October 15th at the Main Library. With helmets and swords I’ll be introducing them to the Trojan War with my very own abbreviated version of The Iliad. By the time they leave the library they will know who was “the face that launched a thousand ships” and the original meaning of Achilles’ heel. Take a look at my book to see the full play used by teachers in their classrooms.