Dublin-based literary publication Sonder Magazine has recently been utilising its online platform to generate a sense of connection among the literary community, throughout this unusual summer.
Sonder’s Miniseries: Readings from a Post-Lockdown World launched in early July, during the throws of isolated pandemic life. Every Thursday since then, a contributor has been featured on Sonder’s Instagram and Youtube channel where they have performed a reading of an original piece of work.
“In this time of social unease and uncertainty, connecting people in whatever way we can” is Sonder’s mission behind the series. For but a few minutes each week, the miniseries provides some escapism, and the opportunity to become absorbed in the grounding presence of words.
For the nine weeks it has been running, Readings from a Post-Lockdown World has featured an array of writers of varying ages and literary genres. With readings of poetry, excerpts from short stories and flash fiction, there has been something to indulge the niche literary interests of all.
Most of the readings have side-stepped any mention of coronavirus, allowing for total immersion in a world other than the one we currently know. Examples include Sadhbh Kellet’s reading of her reimagination of an Irish tale, “Niamh Cinn Oir”, in week one, or Fiona Ennis’s poignant short story “Debt”, which she so eloquently recited in week five.
Some contributors, however, have availed of the series as an opportunity to read pieces that they have created during lockdown and which reflect on the experience. In week three of the miniseries, Galway writer Luke Power read his poem “Street Performance in the Apocalypse”, which was an exploration of the resilience of artists during a time of chaos.
In keeping with the definition of Sonder, “the realisation that each random passer-by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own”, the miniseries showcases a weekly snippet into the mind of another creative individual. It also reinforces the foundational ethos of Sonder Magazine, which, on their website, reads: “Sonder doesn’t have to be a solitary feelin.” The miniseries will remain as a memoir of the human connection that literature granted us during the most solitary of times.
The series continues for two more weeks, with the final episode airing on Thursday September 10th. All 12 episodes are available to watch on Sonder’s Instagram and Youtube platforms.
