Reblogged from Barb Taub:

n my last post here, I talked about the ‘forgotten’ flu pandemic of 1918. The coronavirus seems an overwhelming force across the globe, and I wonder what its legacy will be. After reading the incredible new group lockdown diary, Writedown, one thing I’m sure of is that this pandemic will live in our collective memory. 

One of the contributors to Writedown is also one of my favorite writers, Mary Smith. (If you haven’t had a chance to read her incredible Afghan adventure serial diary, give yourself a treat and start with this one, take a look at some of her funny and heart-tugging books here, her blog series My Dad is a Goldfish about caring for her father with dementia, or most recently her ongoing cancer journey.

I invited Mary to describe the Writedown project, and here’s what she shared.

Author Mary Smith, one of 22 contributors to Writedown.

The Writedown project came about through author Margaret Elphinstone. She tutors a writing group, Glenkens Writers but, of course they could no longer meet at their usual venue during lockdown. She decided to try an online project and invited her existing group to take part but also widened the net further by inviting others with a connection to the Galloway Glens. The initiative was inspired by the Mass Observation project which encouraged ordinary people to keep wartime diaries (http://www.massobs.org.uk – a fascinating project) and 22 of us took up the challenge.

Continue reading at Barb Taub