An eclection of insights into the nature of writing and being a writer.Â
Scribbles in the sand
In Couto's superb novel, a disturbed father tries to isolate his sons from life and learning by taking them to a remote place and denying them any access to writing.  The older brother teaches the younger one in secret, always at risk of dire punishment. As a new...
Like the last of his life
Harold Bloom's comment on Hart Crane (1899-1932) is all the more poignant knowing that Crane considered some of his major work to have been a failure, suffered recurring bouts of alcoholism, and appears to have committed suicide when he jumped overboard a ship he was...
Poetry as gleaning
A telling comment by Christopher Isherwood on W.H. Auden's approach to revising his poems. It makes one wonder how many scholars have wasted hours peering deeply into some poem of 'celebrated obscurity' which was never more than an accretion of lines that had passed...
Of abundant overflow
What causes creativity to spring forth? I like Seamus Heaney's idea that it is not so much reactive as a generous overflow from an abundant internal source.This then is truly creative writing. It does arise from the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, but the...
All good publishers have a department of exceptions.
Gabriel Zaid – So Many Books
Like the last of his life
Harold Bloom's comment on Hart Crane (1899-1932) is all the more poignant knowing that Crane considered some of his major...
Writers and the spirit of the age
This touches on the big question of how one retains one's independence while being a product of, or at least...
Key Penmanship Indicators (KPIs) – IV
That's it, isn't it, 'the authentic sunlight of life', when writing rings true like a fine china bowl resonating perfectly...
Something more pressing
Yes, you can find a thousand things more urgent than writing, or at least more insistent. Writing for this...
Frank impiety
An incisive summary of the effect of Irish writers on English literature; I liked the English-rose-pruning metaphor and the 'frank...
Palladian persuasive powers
Let me remember this the next time I wonder what chance there is of persuading anyone to fund ambitious cultural...
The secret of surprise
A pithy tip from one of the masters, succinctly conveyed in Clive James' translation. Â It's certainly given me food for...
Poetry as a boat
Another maritime metaphor in Heaney's introduction to a poem set in a sea-world. The ‘big quay’ of language and literature can...
Manuscripts as moments in time
I have long felt this sense of time’s encapsulation in manuscripts, and I like this example of a manuscript being...
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