To Read Franz Kafka (1883-1924) To read Kafka is to be immersed in a world of psychologic rather than in a world of logic, reasonableness and cause and effect. The word Kafkaesque, which has become common parlance, depicts humanity in an alternate reality in which a person is gripped by a labyrinth of repressive, incomprehensible … Continue reading Reading Kafka
Travel Writing
THE BEAT GOES ON
ALLEN GINSBERG AND THE BEATS Bob Donlon, Neal Cassidy, Ginsberg, Robert la Vigne, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, outside Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookshop, Bay Area San Francisco, 1956. (US NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART all rights reserved - Allen Ginsberg Foundation - ) My introduction to the Beats came with a bizarre conversation I had with a violinist with … Continue reading THE BEAT GOES ON
“Take Off Your Uniform and Apologize to Your Mother”
ANTI ABORTION LAW DEMONSTRATIONS IN POLAND WARSAW, POLAND OCTOBER 23 RD 2020 Photo by Agata Hudomiet With the exception of rape, incest and when the mother's life is at risk, almost all abortions have been banned in Poland as a result of a law passed in the last few days. The health system is somewhat … Continue reading “Take Off Your Uniform and Apologize to Your Mother”
Bo Peep and the literary butler
Bo Peep in micromanagement mode The hardest lesson I ever learned about being a writer was when I spent time on Bo Peeps farm. It was a long time ago (20 years at least) in another country (I'd rather not say), and most of the people involved are long dead now (so I'm given to … Continue reading Bo Peep and the literary butler
Ten things Which didn’t Make Our Ten Day Stay in Alykes, Zakinthos Sheer Perfection
Caveat Emptor: THE WORST HOLIDAY OF OUR LIVES (*SEE NOTE BELOW*) We stayed ten days in Alykes, Zakinthos and it was 1. Drafty: The way the wind howled through the cracks between the windows and the doors during windy rainy nights and we were freezing and that no one checked on us after the … Continue reading Ten things Which didn’t Make Our Ten Day Stay in Alykes, Zakinthos Sheer Perfection
Librarians and Civilization
As usual in Wicklow town the staff in the local Library are incredibly helpful and saved me a fortune in books by sourcing copies of volumes on loan I was pricing on the Internet. There are few jobs more unappreciated than that of the librarian, which is not cool at all. … Continue reading Librarians and Civilization
Publishing and not Being Damned
Getting work published and reducing the Tears Involved Archive Image of Thompson Reuters Publishing – see http://thomsonreuters.com/core-publishing-solutions/ The purpose of writing is to be read. No amount of false humility will ever sufficiently delude a writer into thinking she is destined to a kind of solipsistic world of simply writing for themselves. Writing is communication. … Continue reading Publishing and not Being Damned
Travelling Light in Poland : 17- 27th October 2013
A fascinating piece of installation art we came across in a corner in Wroclaw. The statuary actually dissolves into the ground and emerges across the street. Arresting. Beautiful. It took twelve hours to get to Karpacz, three hours by plane to Wroclaw and nine … Continue reading Travelling Light in Poland : 17- 27th October 2013
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