This and more 7th February 2017

Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton had a stricter policy with her young fans - sending out standard replies to all letters. Blue Peter editor Biddy Baxter recalled writing to the author aged six, during an episode of Desert Island Discs in 2014.

“I had a dreadful experience with Enid Blyton. I had a reply and it was wonderful: the best day of my life.

“Three weeks later I wrote to her again and I received an identical reply.

“I remember bursting into tears and going to see my mother saying: ‘She doesn’t remember me’. That was something I was so aware of. We tried not to send duplicate letters.”

And because of this Ms Baxter enforced a strict policy with her Blue Peter team, ensuring they wrote individualised replies to each child who wrote in, keeping an index to ensure that if a child wrote in twice they would have their first letter referenced in reply to the second one, to let the child know that both letters had been read.

We will continue reading letters from important writers to their fans whch tell a lot about their personality.

8th February 2017 DISCUSSION

GENETIC MODIFICATION IN CROPS

Scotland is taking a stand.

GENETIC ENGINEERING IN HUMANS

Not a topic we can ignore. These controversial issues offer great advances but at what price?

Weigh up the pros and cons. 

Read our interesting articles and join our talks  in la U.P. this Wednesday  8th Feb at 18:30h

For more information: asedow@gmail.com

Iré a Santiago

 You left the theatre with  that  mantra of hope and evasion ringing in your ears .
Thanks to the young talent of Irene Escolar and the magnificent performance of Will Keen  we feasted on the verses of the immortal Federico García Lorca.
 An intense hour and one quarter that flew by. It was not easy. This was not the Lorca I remembered of the Romancero gitano and the dark staccato- like drama  I saw performed in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. These verses were rendered in English and Spanish. The two actors'  brilliant delivery will send us back to our bookshelves to relive the performance.
A letter written by the poet when he was at la Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid was read on stage We heard  how much he loved his life in Madrid where he was able to  live his Art.
A touching finale.
Impossible not to remember Oscar Wilde and to smile and to weep.

Theatre

An opportunity  to discover or rediscover Spain's  world famous poet and playwright Federico García Lorca.

Members of ASEDOW who are interested in attending should get in contact with us quickly as there is only one performance.

It is on Monday 30th January 2017 at 20:00h


Lorca in English and Spanish

Topic for discussion: The use of police force

What is the situation of the police in our societies?

The media, politicians and the citizens demand law enforcement and protection.

Are the police over equipped  or under equipped for these tasks?

Join us at Universidad Popular
25th January 18:30h

Write to asedow@gmail.com for the links and be prepared!

Calendar 2017

The English language is the perfect vehicle for writers displaced from their own countries to explore their new identity. Novelists such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adicie, author of Americanah and Zadie Smith,(actually Zadie is English, her cultural identity is enriched by her Jamaican  born mother), author of White Teeth are extremely popular.
Would you like to come and read extracts from some of these contemporary novels?
We meet every second Tuesday of the month to read and discuss literature in English, Why not join us?


Be prepared!
Contact us at asedow@gmail.com
Or put your name down in the Biblioteca Central
Plaza de Andrés Caballero,2 
Tf 91 261 6480/3
bibliocentral@ssreyes.org 

This activity is open to the general public.

TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION: BREXIT

Universidad Popular Metro: Baunatal Wednesday 18 January 18:30h

There are so many reasons to stay in Europe. The concept was so  modern and embracing in its day, a protective shield over meeker states.

All around us we can see the good work and progress our countries have made since entering the European Union. Under its social cohesion policies rubbish dumps were converted into greenbelts. Places like Malta with its amazing history now sees its crumbling fortifications  being restored.

 Our trip to Baunatal, mentioned below, in 1992 is an example of simple positive steps that laid the path to a union that wasn't just a market. Our young people benefitted from Erasmus  and Leonardo Da Vinci grants and now all we hear  about are technocrats and burocrats.
They voted to leave  in the U.K. Inevitably it leaves us with a sense of dejection .
Be positive and help the E.U. go from strength to strength.

An Exciting Year Ahead

Have a look at this!

Documenta is back and Kassel is also World Heritage.

Our good friends in Kassel's neighbouring town of Baunatal  look forward to another visit from their twin town, San Sebastián De Los Reyes!! 

Documenta is a contemporary art gathering that takes place in the city of Kassel in Germany every five years. In 1992 students of German in la Universidad Popular and young people from San Sebastián De Los Reyes did an exchange with students of Spanish and young people from our sister town, Baunatal and stayed in each other's houses, had tandem Spanish/German classes and saw the most extraordinary modern art you could imagine, the 1992 Documenta. It was brilliant and friendships were forged.

25 years later we would certainly recommend others to have a similar experience.

11th January

The Driverless Car

While many of us have not driven an automatic car, the industry is moving into automatic driving technology which means you can take your hands off the steering wheel and set the car to autopilot while you do other things. 
Where does this lead us?
Come to our talks and discuss the implications. But first, be prepared! Write to us for our excellent links and you can join the discussion in our room at Universidad Popular at 18:30h on Wednesday
Meet interesting people and hear what they have to say. Then if you want to come again, join our association
asedow@gmail.com 

10th January

Come to the library. We will be delving into the correspondence of famous writers.If you like English and are interested in Literature and especially if you like to write, you can learn a lot from this.
Biblioteca Central 19:15h