I was going to write about Eva Figes and Penelope Fitzgerald after reading Linda Ann Strang’s great piece on women writers. Two amazing writers, two truly amazing writers, two writers I would jump through hoops for. But then I had a thought. It came quickly, surrounded in a nebulous cloud of words. (more…)
Articles
Finding Role Models for Women Writers
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011I feel compelled to jump onto my feminist soapbox and wave my agro feather-duster whenever I think about Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. All three of whom have been celebrated as a kind of holy trinity in works such as Bowditch’s The Ophelia Project. Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with celebrating these writers’ lives and I’m sure Rachel Bowditch had nothing but noble intentions. (more…)
Bed
Monday, June 6th, 2011Blurbs are the butlers in the big mansion standing over the dead Lord with the cup of poison in his hand. We all know how they get on the back of the page. We all know how they worm their way onto the front of the page. It’s no secret. A phone call. A letter. An email. (more…)
Packing
Saturday, May 28th, 2011I have been packing books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books, books, so many books. This is the time when I really hate books. But still I would never have a Kindle or some other device that they are trying to sell me. I will only buy a Nook if that Nook could blow me while I was reading a naughty book. (more…)
Walking
Saturday, May 21st, 2011We all walk. You walk. I walk. Although I am not walking now, but very soon I will walk, I will walk over to the kettle and make myself a cup of tea. Some walk quicker than others, some have a strange walk, some a funny walk, some of us have a serious walk, some march, stride, saunter, glide. Some walks are coquettish and some walks are so supercilious. You could be walking while reading this, you could be wishing you were walking, you could even now walk away. (more…)
The Existential Life of the Lonely Writer
Saturday, May 14th, 2011Paul Kavanagh’s recent blog about the use of the word existentialism got me thinking about this utterance and how, more than any other profession, a writer must be an existentialist in order to simply survive while he or she still claims to call one’s self a writer. (more…)
The Problem with Blurbs
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011Masterpiece. Tour-de-force. Genius. Visionary. Momentous. Gripping. Unique. Hilarious. Phenomenon. Luminous. Take ten random books from your shelf. Turn them over. Chances are, you’ll see a few of those words. (more…)
Pipe
Monday, May 9th, 2011I am perplexed by the word existential. I can’t fathom the word. I don’t know how to use it. When it appears in one of my sentences it glows neon and mocks me. (more…)
Thank You for Not Answering
Saturday, May 7th, 2011I know I don’t offer much – I’m no Tom Cruise or Tom Thumb, fame and fortune does not blow doors open for me. I need to actually prise them open, force them sometimes, dislodge them. I also realise that the issue here is this: I require something from you. It may be a review, a favour, distribution, a place on your shelves, something along those fevered lines. (more…)
Chair
Saturday, April 30th, 2011Where and how the writer sits or stands is maybe not as important as the final product but nevertheless it is important. A writer cannot escape the fact that he or she must have space to write. A chair is just as important as a pen or a typewriter or a computer, the chair maybe a conventional chair, four legs, a stable, raised surface, or it could be unconventional; Erasmus tells us that he composed The Praise of Folly while sat on a donkey. There is a great deal of humour in this fact as there is in the book. One wonders if a slight bump in the road caused a passage to be composed. It is a very funny book. A small book but very funny. It is not surprising that it is a small book. I do not think Gaddis could have written The Recognitions on the back of a donkey. (more…)
Featured Book
© Copyright 2025 Honest Publishing. All rights reserved.
