To be an artist
Poems
Just
Like You
flower
of the night
Round
Table Talk
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Novel
Adonis
Blue (6)
Adonis
Blue (7)
Relay
Writing
Cafe
Evergreen
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Not! Is this the final Melange? Regrettably, yes, as you can see from the editorial on the previous page. As a wind-up, we have had a dialogue regarding our two-year activities. You will find a lot of stories behind stories here. On the day of recording, guest writer Richard Glendinning who got to know us by our newspaper appearance and had contact with us only via E-mail, visited us for the first time, and joined the talk as a moderator. |
- How and why
did you get involved in Melange?
Itsuka: I did not have any great reason to start it up... I came
up with the idea of publishing a literature magazine and I thought that
some other people, especially Emiri and Megumi, would be interested.
Emiri said that Chang
would be interested as well, then we got together and discussed about
making a magazine... It was very exciting. The excitement when you are
starting something new to you and the excitement when you are talking
to people who share the same interest as you.
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Megumi: I was invited by Itsuka. Actually, I never thought of publishing my written pieces. I had written by myself, but I was too embarrassed to publish outside. If she hadn't brought me the idea, my works would have never come to the public.
Emiri: I was invited by Itsuka, too. I used to write poems and scripts for dramas and comics, and I thought it would be interesting to write my works for a magazine.
Chang: In my high school, I was involved in making a magazine in Taiwan but not of literature. It dealt with social and political matters. This is the first time to work on a pure literature magazine. Maybe I can do more serious stuff, but they wouldn't fit this magazine (laughter).
But I think literature
should not be read contemporarily, but should be remembered and understood
for over a hundred years. It should have historical meanings and tell
the social backgrounds of those days.
M: When you
first heard of making magazine Melange, what did you think?
C: It was really good.
(Everyone in surprise - as he's been least involved and said it would
be over soon)
I've read literature
magazines in Taiwan, so when Itsuka brought the idea, I thought it was
really good, and showed her how those Taiwanese magazines were made.
Daniel: I first heard about Melange when I started going out with Itsuka. She mentioned she was setting up a magazine with friends from her college and since I was writing poetry at the time and also working for a newspaper, I thought it would be great to get involved.
It was a most interesting proposition - producing literature from a variety of different backgrounds - most being non-native English speakers. I wanted to encourage the use of English as a means of expressing opinion and emotion.
C: I hope the reader reads the meanings behind my works, rather than just browsing my poor English.
- The origin of the "8th Continent" and "Melange"
M: The original concept of the group name is "a new continent
for writers". Did you have any ideas?
Richard: Yeah, the 8th continent is where all the boundaries cross,
basically. That's how I looked at it.
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- Synchronicity
of the members' works E: I suppose it's interesting that we can find similarities among our works although each member's preference of arts is totally different. M: I think so too. I would call it "synchronicity", that what we think can happen to coincide with each other at a time. But you know, maybe even though we have other types of works, we just haven't submitted them to Melange as we consider them not fitting into the magazine. |
M: Like we created a new world. As for Melange, it means mixture. The English equivalent is "miscellaneous" or "miscellany". This word well indicates our situation.
I: Thinking of a name of a group is an extremely difficult thing to do. You may think that it is cool but actually for others it can be strange, boring, disgusting...
You can see how difficult it is by looking at popular bands' names. There are a lot of bands around but bands with really good names are really few. Especially when you try to think of a name in your second language...
But I think with
the 8th continent and Melange, I like them very much and I am very
much happy with the names. Not only do they explain the purpose of the
group and the magazine but also they sound pretty good.
E: What was
your first impression when you saw Melange and The 8th Continent?
R: "It's different". Melange and the 8th Continent...
I thought "we don't have the 8th continent?" (laughter).
M: We had
many changes during the last two years. Melange became different
from what I had expected.
E: What did you expect?
M: You know, at first we were supposed to be a monthly magazine,
and we received funds as to be used in six months so we could become independent
after that, but we've spent in two years (laughter).
Not only that, we talked about so many ideas, but most of all had never come true. I think that was a pity we ran out of time. Actually, we couldn't reach a consensus at last.
C: The only
thing I was unsatisfied with is that my favourite words of Nietzsche were
not chosen for the cover page...
E: We did it in a democratic way! Three out of the five members
voted for the other saying!
(Continued to Part 2...)
