Founding of Touchstone group

t o u c h s t o n e

it is like a whisper in the crouch

or a sudden electrical fever

which strikes down from heaven

to let arches throw out the pain.

pitfull emptiness on one day

for there is sojourn, a decline

and an unrestive mood in which

fishermen overcome waves

to by-pass rocks, till hunger

lets dexterity disappear in light beams

which shine at night upon water

underneath a temple of the past

where purple rags

are flung out on the ground

to cover stones

never touched before,

never to be touched again

in the same way, as

children would when running

in bare feet along the beach

over stones

to brave wind, silence and hypocrisy.

Hatto Fischer

May 8, 1993

Touch Stone members (29 May 1994)

Liana Sakelliou Schulz, Colin Wagner, Nikos Leventis, Katerina Anghelaki Rooke, Olympia Karyiorgo, Andriette Stathi, Galetea Psonis, Sofia Yannatou, Thomas Strouvalos, Robert Crist, Poly Kasda, Hatto Fischer

also present was at the beginning Don Schofield

Members of an extended network:

Sebastian Barker, Krysztof Piechowicz, "Doodcheefver", Eugene van Itterbeck, Maja Panajotova, Anne Born, Guy Goffette, Knut Odegard, Jose L.R. Palazon, Jean-Michel Maulpoix, Bruno Kartheuser, Heike Willingham

With poets a certain sense of having a future ahead

When poets came together in Athens, and this in conjunction with activities at ENOPE, a newly formed educational institute with a cultural section, it meant then a promise of future.

It included Katerina Anghelaki Rooke and meant taking up contact with Eugene van Itterbeek who had at that time the Poetry House in Leuven, Belgium called 'The Seven Sleepers'.

The name itself was derived when preparing for a poetry evening at the Goethe Institute with the group traveling to the island of Efia. In order that the women could enter the water, stones were removed to clear a path way, and in so doing the name 'Touch Stone' was born.

The event at the Goethe took place on June 1, 1993. It included music composed and played by Vangelis Katzoulis to the poems by Jorgios Seferis and Katerina Anghelaki Rooke.

Later on, Eugene van Itterbeek would invite poets to poetry festivals organized by 'Seven Sleeper', a European poetry network, in Leuven. He introduced as well the poets in Athens to Liliana Ursu from Romania. Eventually he ended up in Sibiu (or Herrenstadt) where he died in April 2012.

Following that evening, other poetry workshops took place, mainly in Kamilari 1993, 1994, 1995 (as part of the 'Myth of the City' conference) and 1996 (the Easter workshop to help prepare the ground for the CIED project).

Andretti Stathi and Liana Sakelliou-Schulz

Among the poets was Andretti Stathi who came from Holland and had written her PhD about Elytis. Later she went on to publish a book of poems linked to the Olive Tree.

Liana Sakelliou-Schulz is Prof. for English Literature at Athens University. Her poetry has been put to music. In the recording Savina Yannatou made for the 5th Seminar in 1994, her voice can be heard. At that seminar, Liana Sakelliou-Schulz gave that far sighted presentation on what the dialectic of securalization entails for not only religion, but as well culture. She participated as well in the Myth of the City 1995 conference in Crete 1995.

To the same conference came as well Anne Born who had written a poem worthwhile to be cited her, since it carries the title:

Touchstone

Joe takes my arm, walks me down

to the little pit he opened, and its kiln.

Overgrown, crumbling, squatted

by nettles wrens and mice. Soon

he can only walk halfway.

One day he stays inside,

quiet beside the fire.

No need to talk aloud,

till: 'Goodnight girl', he says and smiles

I fall asleep in that

but when I wake know that he is gone.

Now it's as if I've sorted

the good stone from the bad.

The black lime rock

we won and lived on

was a touchstone for the strength

that grows inside me

like a child

I'll come to bear.

- Anne Born, from her collection 'Seeing Through', Blue Button Press, 1994

The Touchstone group became especially thanks to Katerina Anghelaki Rooke and all the other poets the core for Poiein kai Prattein ('create and do') created in 2002 with Anna Arvanitaki as President and Hatto Fischer as Co-ordinator. The change in name became necessary once we realized that there existed already an entertainment company with the same name. Thus was born Poiein kai Prattein as non profit NGO linking culture with planning to help improve live in cities.

HF 31.7.2013

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Founding of Touchstone group