WHY… By VIRGINIA GILLARD
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon last spring, at Lotte’s confirmation party, where three women sat down and discussed the possibility of publishing a book with poetry and pictures by Virginia. Virginia was determined to have it launched at the same time as her play, Stroke, which would be premiered at Tjarnarbíó this coming October, and she and Sæmi seemed to have been discussing this book and what it should include for some time now. Catherine, Virginia’s sister, was eager to help.
It was a shock when Virginia suffered a stroke. We, the group running Ós Pressan, had got closer and closer ever since we first met in October 2014 and then again in January 2015, for the creative writing workshops. We had become friends, and now one of us was at the hospital, and we didn’t know if or how she would recover.
When you meet Virginia you can’t go without noticing her big smile, her laughter, and her great sense of humour. Well, when you are a clown and a performer like Virginia, using playfulness and positivity as a work method, it most likely becomes your life method as well. And that seems to have come true for Virginia. Even if there was a lot of swearing in her vocabulary after the stroke, there was also this sense of humour that Virginia seemed to be able to find and use to her benefit, also when she was frustrated and struggled to figure things out.
Even if you lose the ability to voice your thoughts, like for people who suffer from aphasia, there are other ways to communicate. Signing, pointing, using visual aids, and drawing are just a few examples of methods that are available and should maybe be more accessible and accepted in our community.
Virginia’s journey after the stroke has been remarkable to witness. Choosing to use poetry and photography as one way of recovering is proof that when you set your mind to doing something and find
a way to express yourself, for example through art, it can lead to magic.
A unique connection with a person, a friend, an artist. There is nothing random in the way which words Virginia chooses for her poems. There is no mix-up in what kind of emotions she is trying to express with her photographs.
This poetry book is a gift from Virginia, opening our eyes and hearts to her personal relationship with language, and just as with Finnska Fríða, we hope that this book will “move margins”. Ós Pressan has been there to support authors from the margins, and to publish and support a poet with aphasia is exactly that. Virginia’s work is deep, vulnerable, fragile, and tender but also heart-warming, empowering, and playful.
Thank you for trusting us with your magic, dear friend.
We are honored.