2019 in Books
This year I have mostly been reading:Read more
Walter Benjamin’s Rules for Writing
I’m a bit of a sucker for writing rules, even though I know that there really are no rules. I suppose what I really like is what they tell me about another writer’s process. This list of thirteen rules from the desk of Walter Benjamin is new to me. Particularly the awareness of a need…Read more
grey is the colour
I knew there was a reason my favourite colour is grey, beyond the level of intuitive preference. Apparently, according to this paint company, grey is the colour of cyberspace. What’s more, they have a whole range of networked greys. So yeah, cyberspace, grey is the colour. (via Bruce Sterling)Read more
new_novel.doc (OST)
Put the finishing touches to the latest edit of my novel this morning. Just hit send to my agent and hoping that the changes hit the spot and this baby can start making its way out into the world. For those of you wondering what the novel is all about, here’s a Spotify playlist of…Read more
foregroundmusic: New Space Music
Discovered (via the magnificent Warren Ellis) that there was an edition of Brian Eno’s Neroli with an extra track called New Space Music. Neroli has long been a go to piece of writing music for me, so the fact that someone has slapped it on YouTube has made my morning. What this means is, today…Read more
foregroundmusic: every right to be Angry
The one silver lining of nearly a decade of bollarding austerity? The only positive that seems to be emerging from the cluster frustration that is Brexit? Britain seems to have a barrage of bands emerging that are angry because they have every right to be. These have been seeing heavy rotation in my ears: Squid…Read more
‘a tissue of significances’
More thoughts on something read in pursuit of my PhD thesis. (The verb ‘pursuit’ seems apt and amusing here, like I am chasing this thing down, the thing itself always within sight but out of reach). This, from ‘Understanding Fiction’, made my insides chime and resonate: ‘…a piece of fiction is a tissue of significances,…Read more
it’s no use worrying about Time
Both in the novel edits I am neck deep in and in the short stories I have been both studying and writing myself, I have been worrying a lot about time lately. Which probably explains some of why I love this particular reading of Frank O’Hara’s poem ‘Animals’ right now: Zadie Smith recorded on voice…Read more
Helvetica for the 21st century
As a bit of a typeface geek, the release of a new Helvetica for today’s devices is something I had to note here. From the press release: ‘Every letter, number, punctuation mark and symbol in the family—nearly 40,000 in all—has been redrawn, analyzed and tested for improved legibility and performance. The result is a better…Read more
Black hole, son!*
This week saw the first image of a black hole being shared with the world. Image: BBC NEWS Tickles me that, as this image was powering across the the news and social media, I was busy listening to William Basinski’s On Time Out of Time, ‘50 minutes of drone atmospherics that uses exclusive source recordings…Read more
When It’s Human Instead of When It’s Dog
Amy Hempel’s work holds a special place in my personal canon of short story authors. I first discovered her stories when beginning to write my own. This was back in 2009 and I was grabbing up every recommendation of quality short stories that I could. I forget how I first heard of Amy Hempel, but…Read more
Mist
This has been fuelling my writing sessions lately. Haunting and transporting. Just one of many from Thom Brennan; much of his discog is worth a look if ambient for reading/writing is your thing.Read more
Your mother
Last month was Women’s History month and I was thrilled to see that a poem from last year’s First Story anthology by the excellent Judgemeadow Community College was shared across social media. ‘Your mother’ is a great example of the creativity and soul of the students who produced ‘I right Inglish more goodlyer then u.’…Read more
Trouble Come Down
The sad news of the passing of Shawn Smith found me today. This track from his Satchel days has lived with me since my Uni days (the first time). ‘Who’s gonna show the fortitude?’ And this, from a little later, has always stirred me. ‘You never know until you stop…just carry on.’ Much will be…Read more
The more things change
Currently reading all round the topic of the short story to fill in the gaps of knowledge lingering in my noggin. Aspects including but not limited to: defining the short story, aspects of craft, historic development of the form, and structural theory. Bliss Perry devotes a chapter to the short story in A Study of…Read more
The End of the Beginning
The end of my first year as a full-time PhD student in Creative Writing passed in a blur. It was a landmark in my studies that seemed double-weighted given the focus of my research-led creative project: the endings of short stories. Depending on when you are reading this, I am fast approaching or have battered…Read more
2018 in Books
A little later than usual, here’s my reading of 2018. Might appear a little thin on the ground but in part that is due to the chunk of reading undertaken for my PhD and the fact that, due to my slackness in adding to this post through the year, I have been working from memory…Read more
15th International Conference on the Short Story in English
The International Conference on the Short Story in English is a biannual conference where, to quote Robert Olen Butler, ‘the birds and the ornithologists flock together.’ For almost a week, short story authors and academics engage in a series of academic panels, readings, plenary sessions and workshops devoted to the art of the short story.…Read more
Writing goodlyer Inglish
For much of the last year, I have been working as a First Story writer-in-residence at Judgemeadow Community College in Leicester. This has involved delivering 16 workshops over the last eight months or so, along with a visit to the First Story Young writers’ Festival in Oxford. The staff and students have been an absolute…Read more
My Granddad knows
I am thrilled to be able to share that a poem by one of the brilliant young writers from my First Story residency group at Judgemeadow Community College is featured on this week’s Friday Story here. Raasmiya’s poem was written during one of my workshops earlier this year, in response to Malika Booker’s poem…Read more
