Writer / Woodcarver / Tree-whisperer
I recently had the opportunity to interview Mandy Haggith. Wikipedia says, ‘Mandy Haggith is an author, poet, and environmental activist.’ Mandy says, ‘I am a writer based in Assynt, in the north-west highlands of Scotland. My work includes poetry, fiction and non-fiction. My writing is mostly concerned with trees, bears and the sea, and I… Continue reading Interview With Mandy Haggith
Do We Need Escapist Fiction? You don’t have to be a Houdini-type to escape reality. In the 21st century, we are inundated with distractions and entertainment to divert us from and numb us to the harsher realities of global capitalism and its consequences. Most are inconsequential fripperies quickly forgotten once “consumed”. What about Escapist Fiction?
Or "What Have Euphemisms Ever Done For Us?" (Euphemism: “The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.” Dictionary.com) I love the English language and the multitude of ways it can be used creatively to communicate, entertain and enrich our lives. There’s no denying I can… Continue reading Tell it How it is?
With apologies to the blind or visually impaired. I have written about the power and effect of words previously ( what's-in-a-word; mind-your-l#ngu@ge; mind-your-l#ngu@ge-part-2), but what about the power of images? The familiar saying "A picture paints a thousand words" has been expressed in multiple languages for many centuries. Most of you will know it means… Continue reading Picture This
I don’t remember my parents reading me bedtime stories, although my mother once assured me she did. Neither of them read a great deal. My father had a poor education and restricted his reading to the newspaper and the occasional cowboy novella. My mother, when she had time and inclination, liked popular historical fiction like… Continue reading How I Became Hooked on Reading
The familiar adage ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ is often quoted to suggest that the written word is more effective than violence in achieving political or social progress. But what of the power of vocabulary? The choice of which individual words to use can change the implied meaning, emotional impact and influence people’s… Continue reading What’s in a Word?
Art: “The expression or application of creative skill and imagination [...] producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” Oxford English Dictionary Creative people enrich our lives in so many ways, through their writing, music, paintings, sculptures, crafts, performance, fashion and films. Could you imagine life without them? Government funding notwithstanding,… Continue reading Do you want there to be art in the world?
This well-known and well-used aphorism is self-explanatory, and few would dispute its veracity, except for perhaps the visually impaired. What appeals aesthetically to each individual is entirely subjective. Where did this saying come from? Some claim that versions of it date back to ancient Greece; Shakespeare coined a saying with a similar meaning in Love’s… Continue reading Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
I’m not a doggy person, so I’m not sure if the adage ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ is true for the canine race, but it is most often used when referring to humans. Whilst there may be numerous examples demonstrating the truth of the saying, I believe in a lot of cases… Continue reading Old Dogs
For many years I viewed non-fiction books as boring. They contained no stories! At school and during my first time as an undergraduate, teachers and lecturers used textbooks in an attempt to force facts past my disinclined young mind. After dropping out of university I freed myself from the shackles of textbook ownership, apart from… Continue reading Discovering Non-Fiction Books
Geoff King 