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“The Man-Moth – by Elizabeth Bishop Man-Moth: Newspaper misprint for “mammoth.” Here, above, cracks in the buildings are filled with battered moonlight. The whole shadow of Man…… Read more “Cool as from underground springs and pure enough to drink”
Month: October 2017
The 1968 Club, The Great Iris Murdoch Readalong, Nonfiction November & Dewey’s Readathon
Hello, lovely bookish people, The 1968 club is hosted by Karen and Simon, and will take place from 30 October to 5 November. The idea is to have people reading books first…… Read more “The 1968 Club, The Great Iris Murdoch Readalong, Nonfiction November & Dewey’s Readathon”
I always lacked common sense when taken by surprise
Dear Anne, Agnes Grey (1847) had for me the strange quality of a double-pointed sword: we must read it carefully, or else it may kill precisely what…… Read more “I always lacked common sense when taken by surprise”
Anne Brontë
Anne Brontë (17 January 1820 – 28 May 1849) was an English writer. She was educated at home, and later attended a boarding school in Mirfield, between 1836 and 1837.…… Read more “Anne Brontë”
The poor child saw her destiny entangling her as in a net
Review: The blood of the vampire, by Florence Marryat (1897)
Florence Marryat
Florence Marryat (9 July 1833 – 27 October 1899) was a British writer. She was privately educated. After her marriage to an officer of the British Army, she travelled…… Read more “Florence Marryat”
Nostalgia was like a vine, strangling her, sickly scented
Review: The Flesh of the Peach, by Helen McClorey
Helen McClory
Helen McClory is a Scottish writer. She has a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Glasgow. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in 3 AM Press,…… Read more “Helen McClory”
Ripe for the mouths of chance lovers, or birds
“Sub Contra – Louise Bogan Notes on the tuned frame of strings Plucked or silenced under the hand Whimper lightly to the ear, Delicate and involute, Like…… Read more “Ripe for the mouths of chance lovers, or birds”
Louise Bogan
Louise Bogan (August 11, 1897 – February 4, 1970) was an American poet. She attended the Girls’ Latin School in Boston, and later entered Boston University. After her freshman year, she…… Read more “Louise Bogan”
Look at the colour of it
Dear Ali, It takes us only a few paragraphs of Autumn (2016) to recognize your characteristic marks: experimental writing; a collage of literary references; a narrative propelled…… Read more “Look at the colour of it”
German Literature Month VII
Hello, bookish people, German Literature Month ist wieder da! Just like in previous years, Lizzy and Caroline will host the 7th GLM (#germanlitmonth) this coming November. During…… Read more “German Literature Month VII”
I’d forgotten it was summer outside
Dear Barbara, In your novel The Vet’s Daughter (1959), I felt I was being lured into a strange place, tender and cruel. I was being lured by…… Read more “I’d forgotten it was summer outside”
Barbara Comyns
Barbara Comyns (Barbara Irene Veronica Comyns Carr, 1907 – 1992) was an English writer. She attended art school in Stratford-upon-Avon, and later moved to London to attend Heatherley School…… Read more “Barbara Comyns”
She sensed a scream beneath the silence,
Review: The Beautiful Bureaucrat, by Helen Phillips
Dear Helen,
It is difficult to pin down your novel The Beautiful Bureaucrat (2015): a dystopia that reads like a thriller with brief incursions into horror, literary modernism and satire? It’s hard to say. But, by trying too much, and rushing to the tidy end, it might have fallen short of being great in any of these categories.
Helen Phillips
Helen Phillips (1983) is an American writer. She graduated from Yale and has a MFA from the Brooklyn College, where she works as assistant professor. Books And…… Read more “Helen Phillips”
