2022 is the centenary year of TS Eliot’s modernist masterpiece The Waste Land. It is one of the 20th century’s greatest and most influential poems, and yet seethes with such profound imagic, linguistic, cultural and religious references that it appears intimidatingly impenetrable to the lay reader. That’s the modernist way. But let’s not be temptedContinue reading “Literature Long Read: This World Is On Fire – Mysticism, Rejuvenation and Peace in The Waste Land”
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Aiming High Part 2: Failure = New Information
Last week I worked through the idea of trying to capture one’s aspirations with as much detail as you can bear. The justification being that specific objectives enable one to create a useful plan or map of how to reach those objectives. The alternative is a sort of fuzzy goal that may or may notContinue reading “Aiming High Part 2: Failure = New Information”
The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 3
Last week, Emmanuel pondered why the esteemed artist Edouardo Del Bosques had left his business card in Room 67 at the Museo Del Prado, until at last he gets a message asking to reunite. At Room 67 of the Museo Del Prado, of course.
Chronscast Episode 4 – Swords & Deviltry!
Today we’re joined by Stephen Cox, the author of the science-fiction drama Our Child Of The Stars, and the newly-published sequel, Our Child Of Two Worlds, both published by Jo Fletcher Books. Stephen’s with us to take a dive into Fritz Leiber’s swords-and-sorcery classic, Swords And Deviltry, which introduces two of fantasy’s greatest heroes, theContinue reading “Chronscast Episode 4 – Swords & Deviltry!”
The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 2
Last week Emmanuel, a failed artist, began a series of epistolary correspondence to a woman from a previous life in London. His letters related his abandonment of London for Madrid, where he planned to drink himself to death. His plans were stalled when he ran into his artistic hero, Edourado del Bosques, in Room 67Continue reading “The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 2”
Literature Long Read: Utter Dismemberment in House Of Leaves
There is a very strange and small subgenre of literature that is so esoteric and self-reflexive that conventional attempts at categorisation seem to be powerless to define it. The Norwegian academic Espen Aarseth, in attempting to define the outer limits of literary potential made possible by advances in electronic media, noted such texts as ergodicContinue reading “Literature Long Read: Utter Dismemberment in House Of Leaves”
The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 1
After publishing two novellas last year I’ve been encouraged to serialise another here on the blog. This novella was concocted after one of my visits to Madrid, one of my favourite places. I’ve visited Madrid around a dozen times, and I almost always get the hankering to visit the magnificent Museo Del Prado, especially asContinue reading “The Rings Of Saturn – Chapter 1”
Creativity in orderliness
Continuing my thoughts on the nature of the creative personality from last week, I’ve been considering how creativity can stem from orderliness. I believe it’s worth diving into these topics, because it’s well accepted that we are creatures of narrative. We all respond to the power of narratives and storylines when they are well toldContinue reading “Creativity in orderliness”
Chronscast Season 1 Episode 3 – An American Werewolf In London!
The latest episode of Chronscast is live! For this episode Chris and I were joined by Richard Sheppard, host of The Constant Reader Podcast, which takes a deep dive into all things Stephen King, from his numerous novels to the equally numerous movie and TV adaptations of his work.
Creative Creatives
Creativity seems to be a fairly easy thing to define on the face of it. Those of us who are active in the pursuit of the creative arts will quite happily describe ourselves as creative, and the more po-faced of us will even deploy the word as a noun: we’re creatives, dahling.
This Literature Life 