Well, this year's Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award was announced a little earlier today, and being in the position of having read all of the shortlisted stories I thought I would offer an opinion on who I think is going to win the … [Read more...]
Why Cheever loved Monday mornings
January 23, 2013 By 3 Comments
Everybody hates Monday morning, right? Well, maybe not everybody. Here's John Cheever writing in 1952, barely able to contain his excitement at the prospect of catching the 08:22 train on a Monday morning. The fact that he had just enjoyed a … [Read more...]
Robservations: Of smartphone addiction…
November 14, 2012 By 8 Comments
Very strongly do I feel, that the smartphone is the most invasive and controlling invention that humans have ever created. We have become mindless slaves to the technology, and it's a sad sight to behold. Don't get me wrong. I find my smartphone … [Read more...]
Truman Capote on his writing techniques and influences
June 25, 2012 By 3 Comments
I adore Truman Capote, not least for his magnificent work of literary nonfiction, In Cold Blood, but also because he stands as one of the most flamboyant and acutely observational writers of the twentieth-century. I recently fell in love with Capote … [Read more...]
EPILOGUE: An ‘eulogy’ to the printed word
June 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
In the space of 20 minutes, student Hanah Ryu Chung shows all that is held dear in the heart of the traditional bibliophile. In her documentary entitled EPILOGUE: The Future of Print, eight individuals involved in the print business in Toronto, share … [Read more...]
Robservations: Of checkout blindness…
May 12, 2012 By 5 Comments
Conscious of the fact that I want and need to improve my own personal essay writing skills, I'm launching my own weekly essay series, entitled Robservations. In these essays I will endeavour to mainly cover the subject of reading and writing, but in … [Read more...]
Maupassant Monday: Flaubert on originality
March 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
It's a well known fact that Maupassant was a pupil of Flaubert. The French novelist thought the world of young Guy (Flaubert had been a long-term family friend of Guy's parents, and he took the emerging writer under his wing so to speak), and he … [Read more...]