After last month’s first take on a hybrid Pen Night, we did better last night, with two members from away joining us on Zoom, one from Ottawa and one from Belgium.

We switched from using my MacBook Air for the Zoom to using Dan’s Windows laptop, and this addressed the audio feedback issues we had last time. We used my external Logitech wide-angle USB webcam as both camera and microphone.

A key innovation introduced midstream: moving the laptop and camera around the room as people spoke. The Achilles heel continues to be outbound audio, and this really helped, although those away were still unable to hear casual table talk.

Other than Chantal’s excellent presentation on nib grinds, the big news from the meeting was a decision to name our group, heretofore known only as “Pen Night,” as “The Pen and Pencil Club of Prince Edward Island,” a historical hat-tip to the great Robert Harris and The Pen and Pencil Club of Montréal that he cofounded in 1890:

The majority of each meeting was devoted to a discussion of the literary and visual works presented by the members. The works generally dealt with a subject that had been agreed upon in advance (for example, summer, hell, a duel). The essays, poems, watercolours and oil or pencil compositions were analyzed, and often criticized, by all those in attendance.

Thank you to my neighbour Norman for pointing me to the artifacts in the Confederation Centre Art Gallery that prompted this suggestion.