Teeming Black Scrawl
Last week I read W.G. Sebald’s A Place In The Country, a collection of essays on his favourite writers. Within I found the beginnings of a roadmap for writing:
Wait until next year
Putting off what could be done tomorrow, today
January 26, 2018
A beery firmament
As I worked on my review of Dušan Šarotar’s Panorama, I gathered quotations and I gathered reflections, and did my best to marry the two, one supporting the other. It took me back to my school days, my university days too, the point where writing feels more like brickwork than creativity, but generally an exercise where with a bit of thought and sweat you can produce something reasonably sturdy. Read the rest of this entry »
January 25, 2018
I hope I can quickly learn the language
In my early teenage years I would read Melody Maker and listen to John Peel, trying to piece together all this music out there, all this music that didn’t appear on Top of the Pops, that wasn’t piped through the supermarket speakers, that wasn’t in my parents’ record collection. Read the rest of this entry »
January 22, 2018
Everything here is made from love and dedicated to memory
In 2013 a blog post appeared from two former students of the writer W.G. Sebald. They had returned to their notes and had gathered a list of remarks and tips from their teacher. Read the rest of this entry »
January 9, 2018
Take care because we care
Eyeball Cards: The Art Of British CB Radio Culture by William Hogan and David Titlow offers a visual history of a particularly esoteric phenomenon, the production of “eyeball cards” CB radio enthusiasts shared with each other when they met in person.
Wait until next year 