a dictionary of spectral curiosities
When I was younger, I used to get excited about celebrating International Women's Day every year. Receiving bouquets of flowers, hearing enthusiastic discourses on TV and radio praising the achievements of girls and women everwhere made me feel motivated and appreciated. But as I grew older, I started to really experience the difference between that …
Continue reading "International Women’s Day: Wicked (?) Women"
The place where I live is starting to look more and more like a ghost town with every passing day, and as cabin fever continues, strange imaginings take hold. So for day 8 of my little project I've decided to go with "a ghost for everyone". Book: Helen Oyeyemi, The Icarus Girl Until last year, …
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Today I need something a bit more uplifting and inspiring, so as a writer myself, I thought: what better theme for day 7 than "fooling around with words"? I have to admit, it wasn't easy finding works from 3 different categories that would fit this theme, since there are many films about writers, but not …
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I find that, when I'm stuck in one place with nowhere to go, immersing myself in a puzzle of some sort is really effective in taking my brain for a good, lengthy walk. So for day 6 IÂ have chosen "riddle me this"Â as my overarching theme. Today, you're getting a book, a film, and a …
To make sens of the world as it stands right now, we must look at it slantways, sideways, and upside down, I think. And what better way to achieve that than by immersing ourselves in the most bizarre representations of the world? It also just so happens that these bizarre representations are post-apocalyptic, as well. …
On this the fourth day of our enforced isolation, I am given to queer musings, so I have chosen an equally queer theme. Thus, I give you... Day 4: Wicked dreams. Book: Catherynne M. Valente, Palimpsest This novel, originally published in 2009, tells the story of those whose one heartfelt desire is to reach and live in Palimpsest, …
It's looking increasingly like dystopia from where I'm standing, so I will honour this mood by marking my theme for day 3: dystopia. Today, I'm sticking with yesterday's book, film, and computer game combo, and I'll bring you an amalgam of scenarios of how things can – and, historically, have – gone wrong. Book: Yevgeny Zamyatin, We …
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I love the sea, and I also happen to live by the sea, so all of my suggestions for today revolve around the seaside. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that I'm currently reading another book in which the sea is a central figure: Death and the Seaside by Alison Moore. (So far …
Continue reading "‘Stuck at home’ suggestions day 2: Dreaming of the sea"
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold, and I'm stuck at home for the most part, like most people hereabouts. Cabin fever threatens to take over, so I've decided that, for as long as I'm able, I will try to contribute something positive by starting a series of "daily culture suggestions". How this works: every …
Continue reading "‘Stuck at home’ suggestions day 1: Modern Gothic"
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