by beatriceotto | Jul 13, 2018 | poetry mojo, writing & writers, you got mail
Here are Keats’ own aspirations for his letter-writing. Whether he found interesting matter or just made matter interesting, his letters reveal a brilliantly alert, alive, playful, lovable human being. Andrew Motion’s splendid biography also comments on...
by beatriceotto | Jun 19, 2018 | places & spaces, writing & writers
We first noticed it when it was still a construction site, but even on a grimly dank and overcast day, there was something about this tall, light, filigree structure in the middle of fields on the edge of a farming village. You could see it from miles away and we did...
by beatriceotto | Jun 19, 2018 | places & spaces, writing & writers
Let me remember this the next time I wonder what chance there is of persuading anyone to fund ambitious cultural projects of global reach. Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) dreamed, designed and delivered. The patrons and sponsors coughed up. Voilà. This comment on his...
by beatriceotto | Jun 19, 2018 | writing & writers
This 16th century striking, simple verdict on the inaugural performance in Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico could stand as an interesting test for many kinds of performance or creation. Was no one left unmoved? Elsewhere the writer tells us that ‘The performance...
by beatriceotto | May 19, 2018 | writing & writers
A writer occasionally knows their prose is straight, keen and true; often knows it isn’t quite, but without being sure what the missing element is, or the false note. I like Williamson’s demands on himself particularly as his book, ‘facts, you...
by beatriceotto | May 19, 2018 | writing & writers
A kindly concern on the part of T.E. Lawrence based on his appreciative reading of Williamson’s Tarka the Otter before it became a classic. The joy of it is that this slim, loving, carefully created and repeatedly revised book brought some financial success to...
by beatriceotto | May 19, 2018 | writing & writers
That’s it, isn’t it, ‘the authentic sunlight of life’, when writing rings true like a fine china bowl resonating perfectly at the flick-ping of your finger! ‘… always to be more truthful, to write or render a scene or incident with...
by beatriceotto | Apr 23, 2018 | readers & reading, writing & writers
WritingRedux was launched in 2016 on the anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth which happens to be Saint Jordi’s Day in Spain, something like Valentine’s day, celebrated with gifts of books and roses. That makes us two years old today, so a chance to...
by beatriceotto | Apr 20, 2018 | writing & writers
Any absorbing activity has this magical effect of taking you almost outside of time, until you look at the clock and feel as if it’s speeded ahead. It seemed appropriate to share this after we have put the clocks forward for summer. ‘Time never passes so...
