books, films and a few things in between
I first came across the Irish writer Caroline O'Donoghue when I was listening to one of my favourite podcasts on a morning run. For a brilliant episode titled 'How to Write That Novel', O'Donoghue was a guest on the sensational 'Nobody Panic', a light-hearted audio guidebook to adulthood hosted by the hilarious comedians Stevie Martin… Continue reading my thoughts on… promising young women by caroline o’donoghue
It is now the Sunday of half term and here in London we have had the most phenomenal weather- it has actually felt as though we've been gifted a magic interlude of summer to cheer us up through the dark depths of what is normally freezing February (and the distress of incoming Brexit, dare I say… Continue reading travel diary: bordeaux
It has been too long! Oh my, I've missed writing on this blog so so much. I've been so busy these past few weeks with schoolwork that I've just not had the time to sit down and write my thoughts on the two wonderful books, 'Three Poems' and 'The Diary of an Ordinary Woman', that… Continue reading the intimacy of literature
Exams are exhausting and at times seem never-ending. You lose your usual routine and find yourself facing an overwhelming to-do list with too many facts and concepts to squeeze into your brain with too little time to prepare. I just finished my mock a level exams and the whole process was honestly so draining and… Continue reading how to survive an exam season
I picked these books up around November - December time. They were engrossing and marvellous and shocking and bewildering and I adored them all. Right now, I'm suffering through mock exams for my a levels (help!) so I don't have too much time to read but, when I can, I'm making my way through the… Continue reading what I’ve read recently
2018 has been the year of reading. I discovered my taste. Beautiful, brilliant books. Heartbreaking poems and shocking novels. Contemporary as well as some pretty ancient literature. I loved it all. I dived into Shakespeare and Milton and the Romantics and my head spun. Modernism became my calling and I absorbed T.S. Eliot and Katherine… Continue reading nineteen books I want to read in twenty nineteen
'the model poet of our time, the most cited poet and incarnation of literary correctness in the English-speaking world' -Alfred Kazin on T.S. Eliot https://youtu.be/xpRSmMnx1MU This is the outstanding, bewildering poem that introduced me to perplexing world of modernism and the cryptic poems written during the period. It is quite difficult to believe but this… Continue reading my thoughts on… the love song of J. Alfred Prufock
Life has been hectic. So so hectic. I wish I could purchase a pause button and just take a break as everything feels a little bit overwhelming at the moment. I'm waiting for offers/ rejections from universities and the anticipation is more frustrating than anything I have ever experienced before. All I can do is… Continue reading a november update
"I am a poet who is a woman, not a woman poet" -Ruth Fainlight I recently discovered the absolute gem of a book that is 'The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Women Poets: Eleven British Writers', edited by the extraordinary Jeni Couzyn, in my school library. It was practically dusty on the shelf in the poetry… Continue reading my thoughts on… bloodaxe’s contemporary women poets (1985)
When Elizabeth Jennings explained how she felt that 'a deeply held belief is bound to influence all you do', she summarised my feelings towards the wonder of poetry. When I read a poem, it is not simply a collection of words on a page. Instead, I am gaining a glimpse of a new, original perspective… Continue reading why I read poetry
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