Category Archives: Death and Dying

Diana Athill, and The Astrology Book Club

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Angela

Diana Athill (1917-2019 – she died on 23 January) was an editor extraordinary, a novelist and a memoirist. She was also one very wise woman. In her book, Somewhere Towards the End, she wrote: What dies is not a life’s value, … Continue reading →

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Atul Gawande and Being Mortal; and a Remembrance Poppy Badge

Posted on November 14, 2017 by Angela

Atul Gawande‘s Being Mortal – which I wrote about here in the context of his 2014 Reith Lectures – is extraordinary for its courageous and honest confrontation of our failure to confront how we want to die. Or, as Atul Gawande … Continue reading →

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Words on Writing, and Pass on a Poem

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Angela

There are hundreds of thousands of words written about writing fiction: how to write, why we write, what to do when we can’t write and on and on so that, sometimes, I feel as if I’m adrift on a sea … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists, Creativity, Death and Dying, Fiction, Literary Prizes, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Women, Writers, Writing | Comments Off on Words on Writing, and Pass on a Poem

Je Suis Charlie …

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Angela

… one week on, what else is there to say but Je Suis Charlie and to stand with the murdered at Charlie Hebdo? Except Je Suis Ahmed.

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Fog Island Mountains and Dr Atal Gawande, this year’s BBC Reith Lecturer

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Angela

Michelle Bailat-Jones has written a beautiful novel called Fog Island Mountains. I’ve just posted a review of it here. The novel won the 2013 Christopher Doheny Award and I hope it goes on to sell, and so to affect, many many readers. It deserves to … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and Dying, Literary Prizes, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Writers | 2 Comments

Dying Matters

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Angela

It’s Dying Matters Awareness Week and, as Iris Murdoch said (she’s quoted on the Awareness Week page): Bereavement is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved. I think – although everything changes in the writing of a novel – but at … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and Dying, Things I'd Love to Have Made, Third Novel | Tagged | 2 Comments