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Kath

June 21, 2018
1

An Introduction to Mary McCarthy

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Mary Therese McCarthy (June 21st, 1912 – October 25th, 1989) was an American novelist, critic and political activist born in Seattle, Washington. McCarthy learned loss at an early age, losing both her parents to the flu epidemic of 1918, a situation that led to a childhood of harsh treatment and abuse raised by an uncle and aunt at her catholic father’s parents’ home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. McCarthy explored the complexities of this time in her memoir Memories of a Catholic Girlhood. Read More

June 20, 2018
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US Authors Campaigning Against ‘Kids in Cages’

By | Authors, Children's Literature, News, Political | No Comments
Wherever you are it’s unlikely that you haven’t heard about the current move by the US administration separating children from their parents who are seeking asylum. Despite many smokescreens and accusations that this policy has been around under previous administrations, that is simply a myth. The policy was introduced on 6th April 2018 and was the brainchild of John Kelly and Stephen Miller and approved by President Trump to serve as a deterrent for undocumented immigration. Read More

June 20, 2018
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Vikram Seth, Life, Love and Writer’s Block

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Vikram Seth is an Indian novelist, poet and travel writer and one of the best known English language Indian writers of our time. Best known for his epic novel A Suitable Boy, Seth has been writing for three decades, although notably and famously suffered from writer’s block in recent times.

Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 20th June 1952 Seth studied in India, moving to England to complete his A-levels at Tonbridge School. From here Seth headed to Oxford where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
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June 19, 2018
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Charles Dickens’ Contribution to Science to Feature in Exhibition

By | Authors, Culture, Literary Events, Literary Places, News | No Comments
Charles Dickens: Man of Science is a current exhibition running at the Charles Dickens Museum until November 11th and the exhibition is looking at the author’s contribution to science, and notably medicine.

Dickens astute observations on human behaviours means he spotted many illnesses and their symptoms before they were recognised by the medical community and his descriptions so accurate that they can be used to build correlation between symptoms and disease.
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June 19, 2018
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Some Surprising Facts about J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan

By | Authors, Children's Literature | No Comments
J. M Barrie (9th May 1860 – 19th June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered today as the writer who brought us Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up.

After being born and educated in Scotland, Barrie moved to London where he wrote more plays and novels. It was here he met the Llewelyn Davies boys who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens (The Little White Bird), and to write Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, a fairy play about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy. Read More

June 18, 2018
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£2m Revamp Complete for National Centre for Writing

By | Culture, Literary Places, News, On Writing | No Comments
The National Centre for writing relaunches in Norwich this week following a £2 million revamp for the historic Dragon Hall. It was previously known as the Writers’ Centre, Norwich but now the facility is to be a “Physical and digital space to explore the artistic and social power of creative writing, and support the creation and enjoyment of world literature” according to a spokesman interviewed by The Bookseller this week.

Parts of the historic Dragon Hall date back to 1430, meaning any renovations had to be sympathetic. The project was given the go ahead back in 2016 and was backed by a number of high profile patrons including Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith, Elif Shafak, J. M Coetzee, and Sarah Perry.
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