Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. Have you read it? If so, did you read it as a child or as an adult? In the foreword of the 60th anniversary edition, author Kate DiCamillo confesses she didn't read it until she was 31 years old. The cover of the book scared her. But then "I was strong-armed into it by a writing teacher who held the book up as a miracle of storytelling. This teacher intoned the opening line of the book (Where's Papa going with that ax?") often and with passionate conviction. … [Read More...]
FIRST WORDS FRIDAY: WEEK 10 – 2019 – THE NUN’S STORY
The Nun's Story by Kathryn C. Hulme, copyright 1956, was a Book of the Month Club selection that reached #1 on the New York Times best-seller list. My friend's dad, who was our mailman, tucked it in … [Read More...]
First Words Friday: Week 9 – 2019 – Anna Karenina
I was scrolling through my Kindle (which I hardly every look at) this morning and found I had downloaded a copy of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. It's been years--and years and years and years--since I … [Read More...]
First Words Friday: Week 8 – 2019 – The Velveteen Rabbit
For the month of love, here are some first words from a not-for-children-only classic, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. This is a longer selection (okay it's super long), but it's okay as the … [Read More...]
First Words Friday: Week 7 – 2019 – A Wrinkle in Time
I'm taking another workshop through Tweetspeak Poetry called Writing Toward Joy and led by the incomparable Megan Willome. We are working our way through Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time by … [Read More...]
First Words Friday: Week 6 – 2019 – Literary America
I bought this book--A Journey Through Literary America--as a gift to myself directly from the website, on sale and autographed. But it's also available on Amazon. It's "a literary pilgrimage in … [Read More...]
First Words Friday: Week 5 – 2019 – Braiding Sweetgrass
I'm all about nature writing, especially when the words are woven as beautifully as they are in this book, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by … [Read More...]
Commit Poetry
Commit Poetry: Let Evening Come by Jane Kenyon
Tweetspeak Poetry has formed a "By Heart" Community, and we are memorizing a poem each month. For December it was "Let Evening Come" by Jane Kenyon. Having lived for years in the country and walked … [Read More...]
Anna Akhmatova and Friends
When Anatoly Nayman recounts his first meeting with the Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova, he describes her gesture of hospitality. The woman who had let me into the flat brought in a saucer on … [Read More...]
Dared
Dared: To Paint a Wall Chartreuse
Chartreuse. The color of your creativity. That phrase pinged around my head this morning. I wrote it on an index card, attributed it to L.L. Barkat, and pinned it to my bulletin … [Read More...]
Dared: A 30-Mile Bike Ride and a Request
I've gone and dared myself again. Back in December my cardiologist told me I needed to lose some weight. Sigh... I know that, but he's the first doctor who ever called me out. In the past … [Read More...]
