What marriage taught me about "the best day of my life"
I heard it said that your wedding day is the best day of your life. But marriage is exquisite. It balances the whimsical nature of...
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Shanley McConnell
Sep 2011 min read
Mastering the commonplace: a conversation on work and rest
The sky feels almost translucent; from the window I watch a sunrise open its vast, blue wings to reveal a more heavenly scape. The...
Shanley McConnell
Sep 185 min read
For want of goodness
In the 10th century BC, a musician named Asaph reflected on the nature of his home in the world by reflecting on the nature of God. Where...
Jun 16, 20184 min read
On Writing About Beauty, Guest Post by Emily Fletcher.
I met this sweet soul three years ago in our first Creative Writing class together; quiet and sincere, she wore grace like the fashion...
Jun 7, 20182 min read
The Concept Of Beauty: *Social Media Edition, Guest-Post by Sarah Gillespie.
I'm thrilled to invite Sarah Gillespie to my blog this month. The first time I met this beautiful artist, I remember she smiled right...
Jun 6, 20181 min read
Grow Unto Yourself, Guest Post by Stephanie Koetsier
Sometimes-------most times, really------risk is writing. Or, writing, risk. I guess it depends on the themes & times & topics. And it...
Jun 4, 20183 min read
Guest Post: Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder, with Deborah Barker
What a joy it is to welcome Deborah Barker to the blog this morning. She is such a brilliant artist whose eyes delight in treasuring work...
Jun 1, 20183 min read
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, 20185 min read
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, 20185 min read
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, 20183 min read
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, 20181 min read
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, 20184 min read
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, 20182 min read
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, 20181 min read
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, 20184 min read
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, 20183 min read
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, 20181 min read
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, 20182 min read
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, 20185 min read
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, 20183 min read
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, 20183 min read
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, 20182 min read
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, 20183 min read
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, 20183 min read
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, 20183 min read
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, 20182 min read
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...
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