Literally Blogging

Rhys pointed out yesterday how a quilt can teach literature. And because of that, it can inspire others. I have something on the “flip-side.” In this case, literature inspired a craft.
I am a knitting knut (misspelling intended). I love to knit. I also work in knitting so I get to see a lot of neat things. This shawl was inspired by the beautiful classic, “Charlotte’s Web.” I think it is one of the most gorgeous pieces of knitting I have seen in sometime.
See how a book inspired a work of art!

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This was such a lovely story, I just had to share it. When a high school literature teacher found the students bored with traditional projects, and saw a room full of abandoned sewing machines, what did she do? Put the two together to make literature quilts, of course!
Ninth-grade teacher Gwen Thibadeau’s English classes are creating quilts to represent the themes and traits of the novels they read this year. So far they’ve made quilts for Fahrenheit 451, To Kill a Mockingbird, and two quilts depicting ‘heroic traits.’ Next up: Romeo and Juliet.
Just think about what this does: it makes students …read more

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Rhys noted the other day the passing of Muriel Spark, author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. “The New York Times,” just published their obituary on Ms. Spark, and had some interesting comments.
Her work, unlocked from her innermost memories of her experiences before and after her conversion to Roman Catholicism in 1954, built a canon of short, sometimes macabre, sometimes humorous novels that sought to pare away the absurdities of human behavior. In her writing, evil is never far away, violence is a regular visitor and death is a constant companion. Her themes were generally serious but nearly …read more

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I have no idea whatever came over me the other day. I was thinking back to high school and college, and the kinds of literature I liked. As a side note, I took Russian, and at the time, spoke it fairly fluently. Because of that I developed a fondness for Russian literature. And that led me to reading more about Russian poet Anna Akhmatova.
Akhmatova grew up during a very difficult time in Russia’s history. She learned on a close and personal level, the cost writers sometimes pay when they write within an oppressed society. …read more

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 The Biggest (and Smallest) Literature News From Around the Globe.
One of my favorite Internet writers let me probe his brain.
So long, Miss Jean Brodie. I was always partial to this book and played Jenny in the stage version.
 Maybe this literature professor is a little too friendly with her students? (No, she isn’t having sex with them, perv.)
Want a pen pal?
The debate continues. And the Bible is R-rated!
Literature is dead in Australia. Or maybe people just need to chill.
Reading is fun! (Aw, what a cute lil’ pirate.)
Are you a writing cyclist? Or a cycling writer? Enter the contest!
I haven’t read it; …read more

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All the beloved books of my childhood—still beloved today—almost invariably took place in the 1800s or thereabout. Being young and impressionable, it was there that I developed my ideal of feminine beauty.

And what was beauty in those days? In a word: dimples. Not only in the cheeks, but in the knees, and elbows, and hands, and anywhere the skirts may have covered.

Who could forget the description of Meg March’s pretty, white, dimpled hands? Or how Anne Shirley told Diana Barry that she longed for Diana’s elbow dimples, because they were so lovely, like ‘dents in cream’?

Growing up, I hated my …read more

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Okay, you’ve had time to give it the ol’ college try! How did you do?

Little Red Riding Hood had a ‘real’ first name. What was it?
 A: Biddy

In Beauty and the Beast, beauty ends up in married bliss, but what is the fate of her two evil sisters?
A: They are turned into statues. And they deserved it, the hags!

A mega-famous fairy tale character is known in different lands as Rashin Coatie (Scotland), Aschenputtel (Germany), Zezolla (Italy), and Yeh-hsien (China). What name do we know this character by?
A: Cinderella

In the story Snow White, what was strange—and rather icky—about her stepmother considering Snow …read more

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It didn’t me. I found it to be a subject of rather low interest. It seems that everyone ends up in court over some success, one way or the other. Author Dan Brown was accused of using parts of another book in his amazingly successful book, The DaVinci Code, but the London court ruled in Brown’s favor. This will, no doubt, have some impact on copyright law in the future. And I doubt it will hurt future sales of Dan Brown’s novels.
The DaVinci Code Keeps Up Its Winning Ways

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I enjoy books from other languages, other cultures, and in particular, early Christian writings. Unfortunately, if you can’t read the book in its original language (I can’t), it loses some of its flavor. Much of the intensity and power of these books are due to the writer’s use of language – appropriate to that period of time, but as they say, “It’s all Greek to me.” The key in reading and understanding, as well as becoming emotionally involved with such a book is the translator.
I found a wonderful translator, and in doing so, found a wonderful author …read more

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No matter how you slice it, modern literature finds its beginnings and roots, in small literary magazines. Online and in hard copy, the literary journal has stood as the symbol of the “starving artist,” symbol for writers but it remains the true way to legitimate literature. Identity Theory, an online Weblog, that is a small literary publication, is a great example and a good source for both readers and writers. Whether it is fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography or other digital arts, Identity Theory may be the place for you.
Identity Theory is a regularly published, web-based magazine of …read more

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