Kai Zen: The Politics and the Poetics of Writing

Beginning with the group's involvement with Wu Ming's Ti chiamerò Russell: Romanzo totale 2002, this article examines the writing collective Kai Zen's open- and closed-participation writing projects, focusing on the similarities and differences between the two collectives’ approaches. The article argues that Kai Zen's greater adherence to popular literary genres, such as science fiction, the western and the romanzo rosa, gives priority to the outcome of the collective writing enterprise, that is, the writing itself, rather than to the collective authors. The article concludes by drawing connections between collective writing as a prelude to collective political action.