Speak to Strangers

Speak to Strangers minisite

Gemma Seltzer — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:50:54 +0000

We’ve built a dedicated minisite for Speak to Strangers to ensure it has a life beyond the WordPress site, and to collate all the elements of the project it all its different forms, including the blog, book and follow-on projects in Manchester and Birmingham.

Enjoy!

http://speaktostrangers.co.uk/

Typewriter by Rachel Cherry

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New website!

Gemma Seltzer — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:56:33 +0000

I’m thrilled to announce I now have a lovely website, which I hope brings together all the elements of my writing, my projects and my blogging. It will be updated regularly with news and information about my work. Thanks to Mathew Hanratty, Rachel Cherry Photography and Henry Simmonds for making it possible.

Please visit www.gemmaseltzer.co.uk and let me know what you think.

Image by Rachel Cherry (http://rachelcherry.co.uk)

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Speak to Strangers: the book!

Gemma Seltzer — Mon, 30 May 2011 22:26:09 +0000

The blog you see here has been re-crafted into a book by Penned in the Margins. It’s been a fascinating process, working out how an online project can be presented on the printed page.

We’ve stripped the idea to its essential parts, keeping only the 100 blogs; removing all the maps and tags. You can see all the extra elements on this website, but we liked the white space around each story for the book. The cover has been designed by artist Henry Simmonds and is looking very good indeed.

London is a city full of strangers and Gemma Seltzer wants to meet them all.

Originally conceived as a daily fiction blog, Speak to Strangers is a funny, provocative and elegant series of one hundred hundred-word stories, which chart a journey across the city through its inhabitants.

“Fantastic, evocative miniature masterpieces” – Josie Long

Speak to Strangers is now available to buy from Penned in the Margins. Click here for further information.

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And in conclusion…

Gemma Seltzer — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:44:15 +0000

Scrolls of each blog post were made and given away during the 100th day of the project – 10 March 2010 – at a live event as part of London Word Festival.

photograph by Jenna Foxton (www.jennafoxton.com)

And now it’s all over! What fun I’ve had talking to the marvellous folk of this fair city. I ventured far and wide and to west London once. I spoke to a couple of kids and lots of shop assistants. I met strangers in cafes and on trains, pubs and offices and a couple of people just wandering around.

Please keep reading the blog, speaking to strangers and adding your own hundred-word stories for the site. Right here in fact.

Finally, thank you to everyone who advised, supported and contributed to this project. It’s been a real pleasure.

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Day 100

Gemma Seltzer — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:42:15 +0000

Tonight, I think of my younger self with eyes of endurance and focus, eyes wide and credulous. You take a handmade scroll and draw it open. For you, this evening is veiled in a fog of revelries. You tug at the gold ribbon, unwrap the printed paper. You’re reading and I’m by your side marvelling at my own work. I lose my cool though I probably never had it, or felt it once and took it held it watched it vanish again. What I don’t have within me by this age, I choose to lack. And you’re the final stranger.

Filed under: Age: 31-40, Gender: Female, Location: Arts Venue Tagged: city, conversations, creative writing, gemma seltzer, literature, london, One Hundred Days To Make Me A Better Person, scroll, strangers, writing

Day 99

Gemma Seltzer — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:48:40 +0000

My thoughts leap from here to there. Happily, for relief, there are gossip magazines. I watch as you select an armful of brightly coloured publications telling you all that’s necessary about Cheryl, Jordan and Jennifer. I flick through one and say aloud, Sex Text Saga. You reply, Excuse me, reaching for one more. I scoff but here I am admiring the free shampoo offer with Glamour. I ask you about Tess and Vernon. And then real life walks in through the double doors and says, now then you two. There it is asking, Who is right and who is wrong?

Filed under: Age: 11-20, Gender: Female, Location: Shop/Market Tagged: Cheryl, city, conversations, creative writing, gemma seltzer, Jennifer, Jordan, literature, london, One Hundred Days To Make Me A Better Person, strangers, writing

Day 98

Gemma Seltzer — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:34:24 +0000

A stranger as a challenge. You are on the telephone but I need to communicate with you. A gesture, then. You ignore me. A wave. Can I pass, please? You avert your eyes. I lean over you to order my sandwich. I hear the tinny voice from your handset. Someone is crying. What I say is this: Don’t go. Or do go. Stay with him, or don’t. Eat well, or not. Settle in this country, or don’t. Be ridiculous, but sometimes don’t be. The only place from which you don’t have to come back from is the journey to yourself.

Filed under: Age: 21-30, Gender: Female, Location: Café/Restaurant Tagged: city, conversations, creative writing, gemma seltzer, literature, london, One Hundred Days To Make Me A Better Person, strangers, writing

Day 97

Gemma Seltzer — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:54:36 +0000

I allow myself a little rudeness. You tell me about an event you’ve just seen and I look down at you – you’re small – and say, What? Then louder, WHAT? A writer, you inform me, and very good. I let my mouth open. A yawn? I think it is. Someone pushes past me. I swear at them, or at least mouth the words. Your wife praises the speaker she heard. She’s tall, hunches to hear us. I say, Uh instead of Pardon and roll my eyes. When we say goodbye, I am nice again. A real pleasure to meet you both.

Filed under: Age: 51-60, Gender: Male, Location: Arts Venue Tagged: city, conversations, creative writing, gemma seltzer, literature, london, One Hundred Days To Make Me A Better Person, strangers, writing

Day 96

Gemma Seltzer — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:13:23 +0000

Floor plans cover the walls, ceiling and sofa. Standing against an open window, you’re shivering yet pleased: All in the name of art. This 1960’s housing estate is condemned, though you don’t know why. This building will be replaced, but you’re not sure what is. This building offers free furniture after 10pm, however you can’t be certain. I take your responses to mean that site-specific creativity in urban spaces does not automatically breed interest in the place. You wear several scarves and hold a walkie-talkie, I try again: You must be cold. You cheer up: Right, right yes I am.

Filed under: Age: 21-30, Gender: Female, Location: Arts Venue Tagged: city, conversations, creative writing, gemma seltzer, literature, london, market estate project, One Hundred Days To Make Me A Better Person, scarves, strangers, writing

Day 95

Gemma Seltzer — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:12:52 +0000

It’s Camden you need to get off at, I say to you when you ask. Your girlfriend is drunk and gazing blankly around the carriage. I like her for her aquamarine eyeliner and sun-bleached hair. You ask me questions and say you’re from Sydney. She is stressed, briefly, because you’re late. I assure you that you’ll be fine for time, though I have no idea where you are heading. When we step off the tube, the ambition of your aim is infectious. I also speed towards the next train, desperate to meet my deadline of no time and doesn’t matter.

Filed under: Age: 21-30, Gender: Female, Location: Public Transport Tagged: Camden, city, conversations, creative writing, gemma seltzer, literature, london, One Hundred Days To Make Me A Better Person, strangers, writing