Jack Kerouac became famous for writing his iconic novel, On the Road, while living on Benzedrine, coffee and pea soup (made by his wife Joan) on a road trip over thirty days. He wrote on one long sheet of paper, using tracing paper he’d cut to size for his typewriter and then taped together so he wouldn’t haveContinue reading “NaNoWriMo or not? And was Jack Kerouac doing a similar thing…”
Author Archives: Yasmin Keyani
The ‘Joy’ of Constraint
(Not to be confused with The Joy of Sex, The Joy of Painting and The Joy of Cooking…) I imagine you know what ‘joy’ means, but ‘constraint’ is trickier isn’t it? The dictionary definition is a ‘limitation or constriction’. Which could be unpleasant or, I’m suggesting here, sometimes liberating. (Oh and I love that pictureContinue reading “The ‘Joy’ of Constraint”
New Beginnings
Today I’ve gone back to my old WordPress website! I’ve decided to rename it ‘yasminwrites‘ as that sums it up. It’s about my writing and writing in general. If you followed me before, thank you. If you didn’t, please feel free to take a chance! I’ll be posting updates on my work in progress, literatureContinue reading “New Beginnings”
April is Shakespeare
April 2016 will be steeped in all things Shakespearean as William Shakespeare (1564–1616) died four hundred years ago and everybody is (still) talking about it. Which is good as everyone should know who Shakespeare was and what an enormous debt the modern world owe to his work. What not everyone might know is that someone soContinue reading “April is Shakespeare”
Agatha Christie – still the Queen of Crime
January is traditionally a time for new things, new ideas, new starts. It makes sense to do this as it follows closing the old year and moving on. Named after the Roman god Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions and from the from the Latin word, ianua, which means ‘door’, this is the doorContinue reading “Agatha Christie – still the Queen of Crime”
Dodie Smith – The Shop Girl Writer
On the last day of November the weather has gone to rain and wind. Good weather for hunkering indoors and reading and writing. It got me thinking about all this year’s literary prizes (and there were a lot) and how some of the results of those prizes won’t be known until 2016. Writing for competitionsContinue reading “Dodie Smith – The Shop Girl Writer”
Albert Camus: November is Absurd
November has sneaked up and closed the curtains. The clocks have changed, but the evenings are still drawing in. Halloween has been and gone and bonfire night too and that’s just in the first week. All a bit spooky and dark and fitting then that 7 November is the birth date of Albert Camus (1913-1960)Continue reading “Albert Camus: November is Absurd”
Katherine Mansfield
October is the birth month of Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) a modernist short story writer born to a socially prominent family in New Zealand. Her real name was Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp and it is telling that she chose to change her name and rid herself of some of the upper class trappings of the family toContinue reading “Katherine Mansfield”
150 years of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is 150 years old this year. Published in 1865 by Macmillan, the author was Charles L. Dodgson (1832-1898). Dodgson was allowed to use his pen name of Lewis Carroll and alternative names for the book like ‘Alice Among the Fairies, and ‘Alice’s Golden Hour’ were binned. In its 150 years AliceContinue reading “150 years of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”
Man Booker Prize 2015 and Penelope Fitzgerald
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction shortlist 2015 was announced last week. See the list here: http://themanbookerprize.com/man-booker-prize-2015. If you work in publishing or at a bookshop you will already know about the shortlist and have seen tables piled up with the six shortlisted books. For everyone else, it depends on whether you read books andContinue reading “Man Booker Prize 2015 and Penelope Fitzgerald”
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