"A writer and nothing else: a man alone in a room with the English language, trying to get human feelings right. " ~John K. Hutchens, New York Herald Tribune, 10 September 1961

Thursday, October 29, 2009

New Website Launched!

Our new website design just went live! Go on, check it out here. Tell us what you think; whether this new look suits us.

The Events tab is currently empty, but that will be filled in shortly. We've been working on new layouts for the e-zine and promise some covers coming your way.

Also, catch the new We, The Craftsmen link: an introduction to the team behind DWL from the people themselves. We've got our pictures up for now, those will soon be replaced by our caricatures. Yes, we will prove writers are willing to laugh at themselves!

So...what do you think?

Monday, October 26, 2009

Announcing PAPERCUTS

Hello Everyone,

We've finally settled on a title for our online literary magazine; the decision involved some pretty cool choices and a large poll. It ran for a suitable period before the unanimous decision was...yes, that's right: PAPERCUTS.

We're planning a new design layout in commemoration of the new title. Part of the reason of changing the design, was because we needed to upgrade our website in terms of the development aspect (migrating from Joomla 1.1.x to 1.5, a much more stable and universally acknowledged version). So that's something to look forward to in the next couple of days.

We're working on getting ourselves some more media exposure, so if anyone has any ideas or suggestions for that, we're definitely welcoming them. We'll be registering ourselves as an organization in late November/early December, and along with that, we've got the largest scale event we've ever had which will involve sponsors, people from all over Pakistan, and lots of exciting stuff like that. We're excited. Are you excited? :) We've been hinting at it for a while, and once the new website goes live, you'll see it with a little more prominence.

Book clubs, readings and game nights will still proceed as normal. We still have the DW corner at the Paper Microphone Cafe that lets you write there and then, and leave the sheets there or take them with you as you see fit. Columns are Khutt, The B*tch Letters and ODTM (One Day, Two Minutes). Who knows? We might expand in the future. Be sure to check us out there, though and bring a little patronage to the Cafe while you're at it; they've been our gracious hosts.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Book Club Reconvenes Today

Alright, so we're picking up where we left off in a slightly new and rejuvenated fashion. Today's ice breaker is all about you and selecting books you want to read. So, we're allowing participants to join us today, and either physically bring their selection with them (mine's Shadow of the Wind, complete with the book itself), or create a list of books that's on their must read list.

We'll put all scraps of paper selections in a bowl, toss em around and pick one at random. We'll open up a box of selections for the book club, allowing random visitors to the cafe to help us decide. The box will be left at the cafe.

Every month, we'll pick a new title from the box and the cycle will continue.

So if you're interested, join us today (Saturday) at the Paper Microphone Cafe, 2nd Floor, above Bukhari Furriers in F-6, Super Market at 6pm.

:)

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Game Night Announced!

After much dillying and dallying, we're finally announcing a finalized date for our second game night, the (hoped for) success to August's event. We're increasing the games played from wordy games to a slightly more pictorial debut, introducing Pictionary to the circuit bringing our games to Scrabble, Balderdash, Taboo, Boggle and now Pictionary.

The details are below:

What: DWL Game Night, Issue 2
Where: Paper Microphone Cafe (2nd Floor, above Bukhari Furriers, F-6 Super Market, next to the Shell Petrol Pump)
When: Saturdya, October 10 at 7 pm sharp
Extras: Rs 150 admittance fee. Please come early to secure a seat; space is limited.
RSVP: Click here (FB event)

Along with the GN announcement, there's been a slight change of rules with regards to applying for registration in the forums. We now require a writing sample just to get an overall feel of incoming members, in particular their grammar and English language inclinations. This comes as an effort to streamline the quality put up on our forums, and in turn those that deserve critique less on the basis of grammar and punctuation, and more on the basis of structure and plot which is the heart of our collective vision at the Lounge.

Meanwhile, we still have the readings and the book club gatherings coming up in the future and our DW @ the Paper Microphone Cafe is operational, so please do check that out and let us know what you think.

We'll be putting up event notifications on the white board at the corner as well, so if you patronize the cafe, check out their White Hot Chocolate and sip it while composing the next brilliance at the Corner. :)

Cheers!