Efacis "Claire Lynch's visit was a real highlight. Her performance was engaging and felt very genuine, and she drew everyone in with her warmth and storytelling; She had a strong ability to move between funny and more serious moments, which kept everything really refreshing. The way she demonstrated how to make stories more engaging was really effective and easy to follow. And she also told stories in a way that made them both enjoyable and easy to understand. Overall, she connected brilliantly with the audience and left a lasting impression. It was a great experience, something students will remember for a long time."
Fertav Beya
***
"Claire Lynch conducted the writing workshop with refreshing honesty about insecurities writers may experience in their practce and guided participants through a fast-paced generative writing exercise with humour and ease. As we focused on developing a character on the page, Lynch elegantly interwove a discussion about the relationship between writing and editing. By exploring the role of (un)predictability, she encouraged incremental editing and challenged any reluctance to 'kill one's darlings.' What stood out most was the pace of the writing and editing exercises, as it reinforced the value of creative bravery over rumination when beginning to fill the page."
Eleni Gemitzis
***
"Having Claire Lynch lead us through her creative writing process was a delightful, yet also a somewhat relieving experience; that is, to see that a published, award-winning author still also has to edit, rewrite, or even delete scenes is something that sticks with you as an aspiring writer. Lynch's advice on writing compelling figures meant to surprise the reader was deeply insightful. Without a doubt, her presence was inspiring, especially when hearing her explain the intricate plans and structures hidden behind prose, like in aspects like culturally-specific details that indicate the characters' social classes in A Family Matter.
Overall, Lynch's novel feels important in the way it uncovers a forgotten bit of queer history. And listening to her not only read from it, but also share her research of these stories and the pain she feels for them - including situations that happened to real people and broke real families apart - was emotional and real. The passion with which Lynch spoke about this topic was a wonderful reminder about the importance of preserving these kinds of histories, and not allowing them to happen again."
Alex Gherghina
(c) Photo by Kerstin Kurz
