My dream of joining a Writers’ group became a reality. The local Citizens' Institute in Närpes municipality, where we lived, opened the door to a writers’ group in September 1990, and I walked in.
The leader of this new writers’ group named it *Pennfäktarna. During the following years, the number of writers varied. Our leader gave us the opportunity to share some of our texts in five anthologies between 1992 and 2007. (I wrote my texts in three anthologies before moving away due to my husband’s studies and work. I lived elsewhere for seven years but found a writers’ group at least in one city. I returned to Närpes in time for the fifth anthology.)
I hope to share more glimpses of A Writer’s Journey later.
*Pennfäktare can be translated to pen fencer or quill driver.
"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a metonymic adage, indicating that the written word is more effective than violence as a means of social or political change. This sentiment has been expressed with metaphorical contrasts of writing implements and weapons for thousands of years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_pen_is_mightier_than_the_sword#:~:text=%22The%20pen%20is%20mightier%20than,weapons%20for%20thousands%20of%20years.
In a Swedish program, numerous words and occupations are related to the word Pennfäktare. Many of my friends say they are not writers but use spoken and written words daily. https://tyda.se/search/pennf%C3%A4ktare
These words come under WRITING:
Note, dictation, E-mail, draft, comment, context, marginal note, memory book, pen fencer, secretary [ OCCUPATIONS ], writer [ MEDIA ], letter, writing itch, writing style [ LITERATURE ], essay [ LITERATURE ].
However much I have learned about writing, I still need to learn more. I want to be able to refer to the reliability of my experiences in my coming book, also learning from the writer of the Gospel of Luke:
So many others have tried their hand at putting together a story of the wonderful harvest of Scripture and history that took place among us, using reports handed down by the original eyewitnesses who served this Word with their very lives. Since I have investigated all the reports in close detail, starting from the story’s beginning, I decided to write it all out for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can know beyond the shadow of a doubt the reliability of what you were taught. THE MESSAGE
About the Citizens’ Institutions in Finland:
In Finland, there are a total of 175 civic institutes (almost thirty of them are Swedish or bilingual). They operate within each municipality. One of the main principles of the activity is to bring teaching close to the people. Therefore, teaching has often been spread to different parts of the municipality. A citizen's institute can be called a citizen's institute, a worker's institute, an institute or an adult's institute. The civic institutes are one of the educational institutions of the free educational work.
Citizens' institutes have more students than any other form of educational institution in Finland.
Each year, over 600,000 students participate in the courses.
Anyone regardless of age and educational background can participate.
More than two million teaching hours are arranged annually.
The citizen institutes are significant regional employers.
The citizens’ institutes have different focal points in different locations and the institutes also have the task of responding to local educational needs. The range of courses is also adapted to changes in society. Local residents often have the opportunity to influence the course offering with their wishes. Most often, the offer includes courses in art subjects, crafts and music, language and literature courses, courses in home economics, exercise and information technology as well as social subjects.