Kelly Scarrow with six-word memoirs as part of La Fiesta. 11 February 2016 Wanganui Chronicle Photograph by Stuart Munro. WGP 13Feb16 - SIX WORDS: Kelly Scarrow with six-word memoirs. PHOTO/STUAR
Kelly Scarrow with six-word memoirs as part of La Fiesta. 11 February 2016 Wanganui Chronicle Photograph by Stuart Munro. WGP 13Feb16 - SIX WORDS: Kelly Scarrow with six-word memoirs. PHOTO/STUAR
IF YOU want to be inspired, bemused, amused, amazed, entertained, shocked, puzzled, saddened, angered and surprised, you must go to Gallery on Guyton to see the 6 Word Memoir installation.
Gonville librarian Kelly Scarrow is behind the event, and it has been her job to receive the "memoirs" and pastethem on the gallery wall.
It is part of the La Fiesta celebration of women festival, and the six-word memoirs are by Whanganui women with a sense of humour, a tale to tell, a secret to share or, in many cases, a creative success to celebrate.
How do you tell your story in six words? A lot of people have already, although anonymously, and their souls are laid bare for public consumption. Some are really funny, some make you think, and some lower a veil that has hidden something much darker.
It is obvious that Whanganui women have stories to tell and they don't need all day or reams of paper to do it. In six words they have the readers' undivided attention. I saw this collection of stories for the first time yesterday after Kelly had just posted another 60 on to the board and was amazed at the depth achieved in half-a-dozen words.
Ernest Hemingway proved the heart can be touched with six words in his immortal short, short, short story. Here in its entirety: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
The authors of the six-word collection at Gallery on Guyton have done the same.
"Books books books books books books," reads one. Or "I will not let him win". That conjures up a lot of questions and a quiet cheer for the underdog.
