Blogs

Creative Life In The Virus Age (Why don't we all just stay at home?)

15/4/20 Why don’t we all just stay at home? Why do we need to work so hard? If we all worked just a little bit less, we might just have a bit more time for other pastimes, hobbies! There would be cultural enrichment. I read somewhere that during a period when ‘the plague’ was visiting London and the theatres were closed William Shakespeare wrote three of his best plays ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’, ‘Macbeth’ and ‘King Lear’ in 1605/06. He stayed away...

Story and Poem of the Month

Our Story and Poem for the month of April have been picked by Noo: Hello, I hope everyone is well and getting through our current, strange lives. It's really great to see so many people turning and returning to writing as a way of keeping communicating with the world. Quantity has not compromised quality either and there were lots of pieces that were contenders for picks of the month in April. My choices are as follows. For our Story of the...

Free writing session #2

Prompt #1 'A chorus of disapproval' (20 mins) When I announced my wedding plans to my mother, I wasn't exactly met with a chorus of disapproval (how could I be, she is only one woman) but her expression made it extremely clear what the thought-train running through her head was. Jeff was 10 years my senior, a pub landlord who drank almost as much as he made and didn't really seem to be especially keen on me, truth be told, so it wasn't like I...

CERASUS Magazine

Make a submission or the kitten dies.

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point

Posted by Philip Sidney on Fri, 24 Apr 2020 Writing and reading can be a refuge - I'm just settling into this way of thinking - If you've been inspired in these difficult times - well done and thank you so much for your wonderful postings. If you need a distraction - let's get writing! It's no coincidence that my two picks have food at their hearts. Our appreciation of the sensual nature of life seems to have come to the fore. From lime tea and...

Story and Poem of the Week and Inspiration Point.

Writing and reading can be a refuge - I'm just settling into this way of thinking - If you've been inspired in these difficult times - well done and thank you so much for your wonderful postings. If you need a distraction - let's get writing! It's no coincidence that my two picks have food at their hearts. Our appreciation of the sensual nature of life seems to have come to the fore. From lime tea and madeleines too to hot, salty chips shared in...

Happiness is a warm keyboard = I live to and love to write

A new story has grabbed my writer’s attention and I’m slowly falling into that place writers go, that trance like state when you’re thinking up a new plot. I love the newness...the twisting, turning possibilities...the fun of something new. It's the essence of creativity having that blank canvas before me…I can slowly see the story forming and for me it's always at night that I find my creative spirit thriving. I'm not sure why but I guess I'm a...

The Countess and the Russian Billionaire, BBC 2, BBC iPlayer, editors Gregg Morgan, Chris Dale.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000h3nt/the-countess-and-the-russian-billionaire A poignant voice towards the end of this docu-drama told viewers Sergei Pugachev was likely to be down to his last £70 million (or it might have been dollars $70 million). That was to put things into perspective. I’m not sure if we were meant to feel sorry for him. My Russian stretches to nada. Pugachev had once been worth around $15 billion. He was a Russian...

James S. Hirsch (2000) Hurricane, The Life of Rubin Carter, Fighter.

I guess those of us that have been kept under house arrest for a week or more, might have a little more sympathy for Ruben Carter, fitted up, for a triple murder and served nineteen years. His co-defendant, John Artis served more than fifteen years. He too refused to bend, plead guilty or finger Carter as a murderer, even though it would have got him out of prison earlier. The focus of the prosecutors of Paterson, New Jersey was so much on...

The Film Tolkien

Just finished watching the film Tolkien, written by David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford. what a brilliant performance from all the actors, especially Nicholas Hoult who plays J R R Tolkien. I truly recommend this film for fans out there. Jenny.

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