Thoughts about things I’ve written or read or heard or seen. An attempt to stay positive in a turbulent world.
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The Man Booker Shortlist
So here they are: Aravind Adiga The White TigerSebastian Barry The Secret ScriptureAmitav Ghosh Sea of PoppiesLinda Grant The Clothes on Their BacksPhilip Hensher The Northern ClemencySteve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole Two first novels have made the shortlist, Adiga’s and Toltz’s, which is wondeful. But I’m very sad that John Berger’s book didn’t...Continue reading→
SW11 Literary Festival
I know I said I wasn’t going to post for a while because I’m writing … but I thought you might like to know that the SW11 (London) Literary Festival begins on Monday 8 September and ends on Monday 29 September. Here’s what Wandsworth Council – the organisers – say about it: The SW11 Literary...Continue reading→
Writing, not Posting
I am writing or, more to the point, doing this before I write. I have laid the foundations and now I’m building the trellises and the supports around which the plants of my story will grow. (image found here) I still agree with John Fowles when he says that writing is an organic process. He...Continue reading→
The Booker Longlist
I’m a bit late … it was announced on 29 July, here, but here they are: Aravind Adiga The White TigerGaynor Arnold Girl in a Blue DressSebastian Barry The Secret ScriptureJohn Berger From A to XMichelle de Kretser The Lost DogAmitav Ghosh Sea of PoppiesLinda Grant The Clothes on Their BacksMohammed Hanif A Case of...Continue reading→
Boldness
Sheri at One of the Best Things posted this (two quotes about writing and ideas). Which inspired me to post, in a comment, Goethe’s wonderful words: Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. And then I thought I’d post them here too, for double...Continue reading→
Six Random Things …
… I was tagged by A Work in Progress at the beginning of May (yes, that’s the beginning of May) to do this meme which I’ve only just seen. My excuse is (and it’s a good one) that I’ve been head-down in planning (yes, that is planning) my second novel so I haven’t been reading...Continue reading→
BBC National Short Story Award: the winner
Congratulations to Clare Wigfall who’s just won the BBC National Short Story Award 2008 for her story The Numbers from her collection The Loudest Sound and Nothing. The shortlist is here; a couple of blogs about Clare Wigfall are here (and see the Faber website link from her name, above) and you can listen again...Continue reading→
The BBC National Short Story Award
The shortlist is: Richard Beard Guidelines for Measures to Cope with Disgraceful and Other EventsJane Gardam The People on Privilege HillErin Soros SurgeAdam Thorpe The NamesClare Wigfall The Numbers The stories are being read on Radio Four all this week, you can listen, or listen again, here, and the winning story and the story that...Continue reading→
Storytellers … on the road
Two storytellers, Peter Chand and Giles Abbott, have begun a storytelling journey from Avebury to London. Like itinerant monks, they will depend on the charity (or love as it has long been translated) of others for their welfare along the way, and in return they will tell stories. Their storytelling journey will also raise money...Continue reading→
The Reader: Philip Pullman and The Storyteller’s Responsibility
The Summer issue of The Reader is, as usual, full of wonderful things (I discovered The Reader over on dovegreyreader’s blog a while ago, thank you dovegrey). But the reason this issue (No. 30) is particularly wonderful to me is because of the essay by Philip Pullman called The Storyteller’s Responsibility. It beautifully describes what...Continue reading→