Invisible Cities writers, clockwise from top left: Gabriel Garcia, Josh Cowan, Ilona Martonfi, Annick Lemieux, Luz Garcia, Mona Lisa Chanda, Christina Manolescu, Geeta Johal, and Raquel Rivera.

Outing the invisible writer

Invisible Cities is a writers support group with do-it-yourself attitude

by Ellen Reid


Anyone who has tried to get published, or researched the logistics of it, comprehends the immense and frequent hurdles: the time-consuming (and costly) sending of manuscripts (and many large houses will only work through literary agents), the soul-destroying letters of refusal, and the barriers of the many literary prizes only open to published writers. And once your precious book has been accepted, how much editorial control is left to the author?

As someone who has experienced the mainstream publishing process, self-publisher and Invisible Cities founder Christina Manolescu was left unsatisfied and decided to go it alone. It's been a steep learning curve and hard work. Publishing houses have proof-readers, editors, cover designers, typesetters, and distributors; self-publishers must do it all alone.

On a visit to England, her birthplace, she discovered numerous groups for writers and self-publishers and found their support a great boost to following such a difficult path. She was surprised to find no such groups in Montreal, hence Invisible Cities was born.

It is a group of active writers, aspiring writers and self-publishers interested in supporting each other's creative endeavours. However, the group also produces joint-published works and organizes and promotes performance events.

The most striking things about the group are how friendly and welcoming the members are, and how the meeting progresses organically rather than on a set agenda of topics.

These aspects are also appealing to the members themselves; one such member, Mona Lisa Chanda, described it as being "like a salon where you discuss ideas and projects," where you don't have to have a work in progress in order to attend or contribute, and where participation from members varies and their various fields of expertise help the group to evolve and grow. An example of this is found in the collaborations formed: Leonardo De Luca (a musician) has helped the group to hone their performances and is working with Mona Lisa Chanda, putting poems to music. Similarly, Josh Cowan and Raquel Rivera are helping each other with spoken-word projects, developing new ways of approaching their work.

Members come from all walks of life and although there is a core who attend nearly every meeting, there are many who just drop in every now and then. The major attraction of Invisible Cities is obviously the support and energy of the group, and its focus on getting work into the public eye, a challenge made easier with strength in numbers. As Cowan said, although meetings may not concentrate on specific elements of writing, like spending half and hour analyzing adverbs, it is a stimulating environment which aims to find good mechanisms for members to increase their visibility.

Another major objective is to demystify and raise respect for self-publishing, a goal which requires plenty of work in order to achieve an end-product that can compete with conventionally published works. This is where networking comes into play as Invisible Cities also acts as a resource, referring members to proofreaders, editors, translators and printers, helping to adopt good production values and distribution systems.

Above all, Invisible Cities is a support group which offers a vibrant and open atmosphere to discuss ideas and projects, where members contribute to expand the scope of writing and explore new methods of conceptualising and contemplating work.

Invisible Cities meets on the first Saturday of every month between 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. For more information contact them at (514) 807-4171 or christina at princechameleon.com, or check out their website, http://www.invisiblecitiesnetwork.com. On June 15 Invisible Cities are holding a spoken word event at Club One on Crescent St. at 8:30 p.m., a co-presentation with CKUT called "Voices From The City," which will include a musical cabaret and book-signing.