One of the things I have learned over the last few years - especially recently - is that, when trying to write the concrete things we call 'books', they have a dynamic all their own. Sitting down and writing a short story or a poem off-the-cuff is probably the most relaxed kind of writing there … Continue reading A life of its own.
When I started reading Maja Lunde's "The History of Bees" I immediately took against it. 'Here we go again,' I thought, 'another book that goes: excerpt from story A, then B, then C. Then back to A...' But a number of things redeemed it for me: it was never always A,B,C, A,B,C. Lunde mixes it … Continue reading “The History of Bees”
September 1st. The first day of autumn, at least for us in the northern hemisphere. Where I live they say it will be warm again next week. Kids back to school, of course... As time gets shorter - both in the sense that it seems to travel faster, and that there's inevitably always less of … Continue reading Not quite the winter of discontent…
I can't help myself. Even though I am striving to be a writer - a better writer - I often seek measurement of my success through numbers. It is, I suppose, something to do with upbringing, or education, or profession; but there is a solidity in numbers which is satisfyingly concrete - especially when one … Continue reading When you view words through numbers…
Sometimes, almost magically, words surprise you. Especially when you're not looking for them, settling down perhaps to watch tv or listen to music; just when you imagine your concentration is elsewhere. How can you write anything when you don't mean to...? Yesterday evening - and obviously not quite finished... a cracked voice tries to recapture … Continue reading No rhyme nor reason…
In Birmingham early for a business meeting, I found myself whiling away the time at the Gas Street Basin on the Birmingham and Worcester canal. It had been the haunt of my first canal holiday way back in the seventies. Redeveloped over the years, only the canal remained the same: the same shape, the same … Continue reading Gas Street Basin
This may be damning with feint praise, but William Boyd's "The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth" is the kind of book you should take on holiday with you. Inoffensive, easy-to-read, unchallenging; perfect for the beach or to snuggle up with by a fire in a country cottage. It's well written - which is one of the … Continue reading “The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth”
There is a great deal in Tishani Doshi's "Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods" that, one might argue, has more the narrative than the poetic about it. Snapshots from Doshi's life, travels, encounters. In spite of this almost semi-prosaic style, there is a great deal here that is engaging, warm. I confess that part … Continue reading “Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods”
Early Edition They stand on the pavement waiting. Up before everyone, larks and all, they stroll down the road ever slower struggling not to beat the first bus from the depot and failing because they must get out. Today they are too early again. Unlocking a grill-protected door paint-flaked from too many … Continue reading Early Edition
When I was out jogging this morning - early, in the rain - I saw something that my mind immediately translated into words: Green. Round. Spikey. On the black roughness of a pavement improperly made the first horse chestnut. I love it when that happens. It's something I have no control over. Luckily I only … Continue reading As I went out one morning…
Ian Gouge - Writer 