Yes, Franz Kafka is definitely worth reading. He, perhaps above all other twentieth century writers, pioneered a sparse prose style which conveyed the bureaucratic nightmares of the age, giving rise to existentialist despair and feelings of intense alienation. Although he was ashamed of his writing, his body of work has come to be viewed as … Read more
The best tragedy writers are Emily Bronte, Shakespeare, Arthur Miller, Sophocles, and John Steinbeck. These writers have composed works of immense power which offer moral lessons, and catharsis packaged as compelling tales featuring beloved characters, and mesmerizing plots. What is Tragedy? Tragedy is a form as old as writing itself. It originates in Greece as … Read more
Yes, Ezra Pound is worth reading. He founded a literary movement known as Imagism which had enormous impact on the world of poetry, he wrote widely celebrated poetry himself, and he edited and published some of the most beloved works in the Western canon. Who Was Ezra Pound? Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (1885-1972) was, and … Read more
No, short stories are not expensive to write, or read. Writing them usually takes less time than a novel so they are inexpensive to compose. They are also inexpensive to read, as you can find plenty of them online for free. Unfortunately, writers are not generally paid very well to write short stories either. We … Read more
Yes, being a professional writer is worth it but you must be willing to write good work, read plenty, study writing, study more broadly, network, seek funding, read the room, prepare alternative funding, seek mentorships, and join writing societies and groups. If you are willing to work the rewards can be enormous. Those rewards aren’t … Read more
Reading memoirs can be a lot of fun, and it can also help you to understand your favourite writers, improve your craft, and gain a better understanding of the industry you are working in. But which are the best ones? The best memoirists are William Goldman, Joan Didion, Frank McCourt, Simone de Beauvoir, and Ernest … Read more
Fabulists are people, usually writers or storytellers, who share fables: moral stories which are often short, delivering a lesson to their reader or listener through the use of humanized animals, forces or objects. It might sound easy to develop a short story to share with others which has these features, but fables are actually quite … Read more
Many may have heard of a Bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story, but you’re less likely to have heard much about the creative sibling of the Bildung: the Künstlerroman. The Künstlerroman is a story which depicts the development of an artist. A Künstlerroman may focus upon a specific, limited period within the life of an artist. This … Read more
J.K. Rowling has got to be the most well-known and successful author of recent times. Her characters have received enormous lashings of publicity and her novels have been released to extraordinary acclaim. Rowling has gifted readers with characters who have become lifelong companions and friends. Rowling recently made some public remarks, felt by many to … Read more
Virginia Woolf has a pretty significant reputation, and people like to throw her name around a lot. Whether that’s to sound well-read or simply because there’s a bit of ‘something’ to her writing that you are yet to encounter, let’s take a look at why she has developed a major cultural presence, even by contemporary … Read more