John Berger, Ways of Seeing … and PEN International

January 14, 2017Artists, Equality, Women, Writers

John Berger, who died aged 90 on January 2nd, was a critic, novelist, playwright, screenwriter and poet and well-known to many. Occasionally, in his early writings according to this Guardian obituary, Berger’s ‘Marxist dialectic did force him into uncomfortable contortions’, but whenever I heard him or read his fiction I loved his originality and his extraordinary ability to make the … Read More

Rose Tremain’s The Gustav Sonata and Dioni Mazaraki’s silver jewellery

October 14, 2016Artists, Creativity, Design, Fiction, Places, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers

I’ve read all Rose Tremain‘s novels and I love the fact that they fail to fit neatly into any particular category (except the category of beautifully written stories about the way we are and how we become). They’re always and essentially different, one from the next. I read The Gustav Sonata on holiday and, perhaps because the usual daily … Read More

The UK Referendum, Brexit, and Meike Ziervogel on the importance of listening to other people’s stories

July 14, 2016Artists, Creativity, Equality, Love, Psychology, Storytelling, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writing

On 1 July Meike Ziervogel, founder and publisher at Peirene Press, published this: Translation is Europe’s only common language. Umberto Eco It’s a thoughtful and thought-provoking piece about the UK referendum, Brexit, and the importance of listening to other people’s stories. These are Meike’s words, not mine, but they’re published here with her permission. The whole … Read More

Why Readers Stop Reading; Lisa McInerney’s 2016 Bailey’s win, and Penicillin

June 14, 2016Artists, Creativity, Literary Prizes, Storytelling, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing

An interesting survey on why readers stop reading: There’s more here. It’s published by Lit World Interviews (I found it on a TLC facebook post.) The conclusions are mostly what you’d expect to put readers off (although I particularly loved Unexpected Sex as a deterrent to reading on). But they’re a salutary reminder to us writers that what we must do, first and foremost … Read More

A Valentine to Fear; and Visual Verse

February 14, 2016Artists, Creativity, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing

In Elizabeth Gilbert‘s brilliant new book Big Magic (I reviewed it here) she acknowledges that we need fear in our lives, otherwise we’d be: Straight-up sociopaths … [or an] exceptionally reckless three-year-old … . But you do not need your fear in the realm of creative expression. She also writes: When people try to kill off their fear, they often … Read More

Mindfulness; 18 things creative people do differently and the ever-magical Elizabeth Gilbert

September 14, 2015Artists, Creativity, Mindfulness and mental health, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing

Mindfulness, according to The Mindfulness Project in London, is: A simple and very powerful practice of training our attention. It’s … about paying attention to what’s happening here and now (sensations, thoughts, emotions) in a non-judgemental way. It can interrupt the habit of getting lost in thoughts, mostly about the future or past, which often generate more … Read More

Men and Embroidery, and a belated apology

June 14, 2015Artists, Design, Things I'd Love to Have Made

Inspired by this post about John Craske and his delicate life and delicate embroidery in a new book by Julia Blackburn, at dovegreyreader earlier this week, I’ve begun thinking about men and embroidery. My grandfather sewed: tapestry, I think, for chair and cushion covers, but I thought, horrible child that I was, that it was an unmanly … Read More

The Brain in Love; and Jim Burge’s Burgeoning Promotional Videos for writers and artists

February 14, 2015Artists, Dance of Love, The, Love, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers

Dr Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University, studies the brain, in love. She gave a glorious TED talk about it, here. I particularly loved Walt Whitman: Oh, I would stake all for you. and Emily Dickinson: Parting is all we need to know of Hell. and Dr Fisher herself: Anthropologists have never found a society that did not have love. And, … Read More

The Launch of The Dance of Love, History of the Rain, and Emily Young’s Kew Gardens angel video

September 14, 2014Artists, Dance of Love, The, Design, Places, Reviews, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers, Writing

The DANCE of LOVE was launched at the wonderful Barnes Bookshop last Thursday: I wrote about on Robert Hale’s blog – the book’s publishers – here. It was a happy family affair: my whole family was there: my two younger sisters smuggled my American sister into the country for it which was a wonderful; the family of … Read More

The Bookbag’s Top Ten Self-Published Books of 2013, and Visitation, a haunting image by Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

December 14, 2013Artists, Speaking of Love, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Third Novel

I’ve just heard that the Bookbag has included Speaking of Love in its Top Ten Self-Published Books for 2013. Very exciting. Thank you, Bookbag. And a couple of weeks ago, at ENO‘s miraculous Magic Flute, directed by the ever-inventive Simon McBurney I saw, inside the programme, some of the most haunting, poetic and beautiful images I’ve seen for a long time. … Read More