Wedding Reflection: Grief as a vine
I was twenty when my great grandmother died, twenty-two when my grandfather followed. I held my grandfather's hand in the hospital room...
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Shanley McConnell
- 6 days ago
- 2 min
Ode to September
We begin the academic year with September. A month to learn and enjoy learning. To be inspired. This word "inspire" descends from the ...
Shanley McConnell
- Jul 30
- 6 min
Wedding Reflection: The Engagement Season and Forever After
Joshua and I courted our wedding day like a beloved date. We bought flowers, chose a venue, confirmed decor and finalised details with...
- Jun 1, 2018
- 3 min
When Something Known Becomes Something Learned, Understood & New
It only took the walk from the parking garage on the West End to the print shop South of Perth Road to realise that I was collecting...
- May 20, 2018
- 5 min
Mud Sunk Shoes & Orange Lion Tears.
Mud Sunk Shoes & Orange Lion Tears When I was nine, we made a pact. It was a sort-of real-life adventure-code that included three rules....
- May 15, 2018
- 5 min
Lasagna For Four; guest-post by Rhiannon Lindsay-Andrews
What an honour it is to invite a fellow writer & life-chef to the blog this morning. Rhiannon Lindsay-Andrews has been a friend of mine...
- May 5, 2018
- 3 min
A Friday Film: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, published by DURA (2018)
(UK, 2018) 20 April — 03 May, DCA The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a cinematic composition. Simple and charming, the...
- Apr 24, 2018
- 1 min
To Summer.
summer, you are seasonal flowers we make perfume from your petals we pour it over our feet we pick strawberries and stargaze and pretend...
- Apr 14, 2018
- 4 min
Life Update: University Courses, Graduation & Continued Study.
They said the forecast was sunshine; bright & solemn. But it is grey outside, and far more beautiful than the burn of something so bold....
- Apr 9, 2018
- 2 min
A Friday Film: The Promise (2016)
Cinematic Reviews: The Promise, directed by Terry George (2016). Armenia is dying, but it will survive. The little blood that it still...
- Apr 6, 2018
- 1 min
Be Close To The Broken-Hearted
be close to the broken-hearted somehow make suffering turn this evil against itself so that a greater life rises from the dark god,...
- Apr 4, 2018
- 4 min
Things I Learned In The Process: Planning & Hosting A Poetry Reading
Hello. Things I Learned In the Process. Planning & Hosting A Poetry Reading is fulfilling, uplifting, engaging. It is full of curious...
- Mar 30, 2018
- 3 min
Review of A Horse Walks Into A Bar by David Grossman, published by DURA.
David Grossman (Jonathan Cape, 2016); hbk, £14.99 Shortlisted for The Man Booker International Prize of 2017, A Horse Walks Into A Bar is...
- Mar 24, 2018
- 1 min
Poetry Flows In Us
Poetry flows within some of us like blood in our veins a DNA determining function, form— the foundation for faith it is the genetic,...
- Mar 16, 2018
- 2 min
Solidarity; But Stronger--Still Are The Blessed.
"My counsel for you is simple & straightforward: 'Step forward with your arms full and hands open. you've received Jesus Christ, the...
- Mar 11, 2018
- 5 min
Guest Post: The Embrace, with Prose Writer Helen Brower
What a delight it is to welcome Helen Brower to the blog today. I met this sweet friend about six months ago, and I remember we bonded...
- Mar 1, 2018
- 3 min
But We Have Flowers.
please watch this first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2S9An4AX0M Around two years ago, October-November 2015, this video found its...
- Feb 27, 2018
- 3 min
Review of Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark,published by DURA.
Aiding and Abetting Muriel Spark (Viking, 2000); Pbk, £12.99 "Do not lose hold of the name Hildegard Wolf,” warns narrator and renowned...
- Feb 23, 2018
- 2 min
In 'The Age Of Everything Is Very Beautiful'
Think of those people. The ones you hate. The ones that call themselves blessed because everything in their life is beautiful. You don't...
- Feb 18, 2018
- 3 min
May We Never Be Without Confidence
Okay but you wouldn't stop to take a vote standing on a ship that's sinking straight down into the depths of the sea. All's i'm saying...
- Feb 18, 2018
- 3 min
Review of The Museum of Disappearing Sounds by Zoë Scoulding, published by DURA.
The Museum of Disappearing Sounds. Zoë Skoulding (Seren, Poetry Wales Press, 2013); Paperback; £8.99 This crashes around the skull. It...
- Feb 14, 2018
- 3 min
How To Learn That Love Is Never The Go-To Let-Go
when you read: listen to Juliet's Dream by Abel Korzeniowski. "Love is like dried flowers sometimes. Even though you watch the petals...
- Feb 10, 2018
- 2 min
Choosing Calligraphy Pens
When it comes to art & ink, there are hundred of writing utensils to choose from. I cannot begin to count the brands I have chosen over...
- Feb 7, 2018
- 3 min
Creating a Spiritual Practice, by Alex Franks
How lovely it is to welcome Alex Franks to my blog. I love the honesty with which this friend chooses to embrace sincerity and struggle....
- Feb 4, 2018
- 2 min
Literature Review of Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life Unstrung by Min Kym.
Gone: A Girl, A Violin, A Life Unstrung, Min Kym. Min Kym (Viking, 2017); pbk, £9.99 It seemed to sum up why one plays: the music you...
- Jan 30, 2018
- 3 min
Literature Review: The Lonely Hearts Hotel by Heather O' Neill
The Lonely Hearts Hotel (Longlisted, 2017 Baileys Women's Prize). Heather O'Neill (riverrun, 2017); pbk, £13.39 With vivid illustrations,...
- Jan 26, 2018
- 1 min
Dear Unsettling World 2017
Dear Unsettling World 2017, We predict your future based on your past. We doubt, we fear, we wander. We watched bombs fall from the sky....
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