The writing prompts are an ongoing experiment that invites postcrossers to write about a different topic on their postcards’ messages every month. These are just suggestions though — if you already know what you want to write about, or the recipient gives you some pointers, that’s great too!
We’re posting February’s writing prompt a couple of days ahead of schedule because other good things are coming… 😉 Stay tuned!
This month’s writing prompt was suggested by Norway_girl on the forum. Here it goes:
If possible, write about someone whose work you know and enjoy, so that others can discover it too! It could be a contemporary or classical author, or perhaps even a favourite poet, children’s book or cookbook’s author. Make it interesting and help others discover a bit of your country’s literary heritage.
In the past few years, as friends got married and started having babies, we’ve been slowly rediscovering Portuguese children’s books and fell in love with a publisher called “Planeta Tangerina” (Tangerine planet). Their books are filled with beautifully illustrated and irreverent stories, making it hard to pick just one… A particular author of theirs that we enjoy is Isabel Minhós Martins, whose many books are often translated into other languages. “Don’t cross the line!” is our favourite — a quirky story on dictatorship, revolutions and the power of people, taking place in felt-tip illustrations on the left and right sides of each two-page spread.
What about your country? Which authors have you been reading or having fun discovering? Which ones do you think the recipient of your postcard would like to hear about? Don’t be afraid to skip the classics and recommend some little-known authors on your postcards — if you like their works, it’s likely that some other postcrossers will too!
PS – Got some cool ideas for more prompts? Feel free to share them on this forum thread!
15 comments so far
Excellent idea!
It`s agood idea. But does it mean that I write about my favourite authors to all the next members I`ll get the adress ?
I think that`s the idea, even they are not translated sometimes into english. To read a book in german lang. will be more or less interested by Germans only.
Ok. I`ll take this idea.
@remajo Maybe it would be a good idea to focus on authors that you know (or suspect) have been translated into other languages!
Tip: to know if your favoriet author has been translated to other languages, checking Wikipedia may help!
This is brilliant!
Oh I love this prompt. I’ll write about my fav Pacific authors 😎
Good idea. I already know a few...
@remajo - you can choose to write about authors IF you want to, but if you want to write about something else, that's fine as well.
The writing prompts are just suggestions:)
@Kamna - It would be so amazing to learn about Pacific authors, if you ever draw my address!
USA currently has stamps of illustrations from "A Snowy Day" -- a lovely children's book by Ezra Jack Keats, as well as stamps commemorating Henry David Thoreau; both are American authors. This will be a perfect excuse to use them.
Maybe an idea to pick your favorite recipes?
what about writing about your hobby, or pastime, or something people do to entertain themselves that you think is only done in your country, or not done in other countries??
I always write about my hobby collecting used stamps. This has led that some people spontaneously stamps sent to me. That's great!!
I love this idea - I hadn't seen the monthly prompts before, and I'm going to use them from now on.
Pretty good idea ! :-)