Here's what's happening over here!
My upcoming collection with Two Rivers is coming along beautifully. Cover art is in the works and I am looking forward to sharing it soon!
Likewise, plans for launch event(s) are materialising. You should probably go ahead and block off all of October and maybe November, just in case.
On the PhD front, I am in very deep and probably over my head with respect to speech acts. More on this soon. I do feel extraordinarily lucky to have the opportunity to work on this project, and I am grateful to the University of Reading for providing a regional bursary, without which I would find the practicalities a lot more difficult. Lately I've been looking at John Ashbery's Girls on the Run , which is a wild ride, if you like John Ashbery. And I do like John Ashbery A LOT, and Henry Darger as well, upon whose artworks the poem is based. In fact, I feel like I have pulled off something really sneaky in finding a topic where I get to pull together all of my favourite things and read and write about them all day long. I do not deserve this!
I've also been working my way through a massive TBR pile. I have a real problem with accumulating book stacks. I do love a good stack of books and I don't really feel comfortable in a space unless I am pretty much closed in by books on all sides. On the other hand, it is depressing because the books collect dust, time passes, and I am never able to read as much as I would like. I dust the books and life feels very short.
Recently finished titles include:
The Secret History - Donna Tartt. Not enough Mystery religion in this!
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe - Fannie Flagg. I picked this up at Four Bears bookshop in Caversham, mainly because I was feeling homesick. However, I've never been to Alabama so I can't exactly say that itch was scratched. Nevertheless.
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities - Chen Chen. Impossible to sum up in brief, but this was a very fresh and exciting read. One of those wonderful collections that makes you want to get to work on your own writing.
I'm currently reading Brian Copenhaver's Hermetica translation. Very sad that I could not quite figure out a way to do a 100% occult/esoterica poetry PhD, but I'm sneaking it in as much as possible.
What are you reading this month?
Comments