In conjunction with the 2021 edition of Bangkok International Performing Arts (BIPAM), which took place during September 1-5 of that year, soi has launched a workshop. It has evolved and extended into a years-long process that only recently ended when the festival returned in 2023.

The workshop began with a cohort of 9 selected participants. They were given free access to the entirety of the festival’s program. After the viewing, each participant developed a point of departure for their review and presented it to the group. Then followed the first draft and the second draft presentation, the editorial selection of qualified reviews, and finally the one-on-one sessions with a dedicated editor, where the participants developed and refined their complete manuscripts.

Prior to every session of the workshop, the participants were encouraged to read their friends’ work in order to participate in the feedback process with the editorial team. The entire process took roughly 8-9 months. By the end of it, all of us had agreed that this rigorous process that allowed writing to take its time was meaningful in itself (even though some of the participants ultimately did not produce a piece of writing), and the exercise of attentive reading was essential in laying a long-term foundation—a process which we were glad to have been a part of.

This year, the festival has returned to its physical home with the theme *Uncommon Ground*, and it seems an opportune time to publish the works of our workshop participants. The reviews will be published on soi’s website every Friday, beginning this March 25, until the end of April.

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Please stay tuned for our participants’ reviews. Below are testimonials collected from some of our workshop participants:

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*I was struck by the general tone of each presentation, which made me feel like everyone’s written works were carefully read and commented on. It felt like a serious editorial process, and each time I edited my work, I was able to apply feedback from various perspectives, including the prose, the arguments, the form, and more. I was also impressed by the reading list. I think I will often return to it for further reading.* — Yok

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*I enjoyed hearing others’ perspectives and exchanging ideas, especially during our discussion on what caught our interest at the end of the festival. I was also impressed by the quality of the reading list. It might be helpful to start writing earlier in the process to strengthen our works, as I found my ideas to be fresh right after watching the performances. Writing after a certain interval caused my ideas to become too stagnant.* – Jenny

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*It was a great experience well worth putting my time into. This workshop is a wonderful creative space. Everyone, including the participants and the soi team, was actively participating in commenting and giving feedback to each of our works from the beginning to the end.* – Moss

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*This was a draft where I was able to fully illustrate all the points that I barely touched on in earlier drafts. It felt complete, but it turned out so long that it surprised even myself. I think the essence of this workshop was the process, which I thought was really fruitful.* — Jeanne