@athelstone
Active 14 hours, 6 minutes ago-
Athelstone posted a new activity comment 8 years ago
embarrassed to admit that I said I would, but I didn’t. However…I have just bought his collected works and am looking forward to some light and delightful reading if these words from ‘the poet’ are typical: When all the dancers and masks had gone inside
His cold stare
Returned to its true task, interrogation of silence. -
Athelstone posted a new activity comment 8 years ago
I’ve been reading a bit more lately. The resurgence started after I bought Alan Bennett’s ‘Six Poets’ selection for the Orkney break. I remember thinking ‘Blimey, I wouldn’t have chosen that’ and never looked back
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Ath, Did you ever get round to reading Orkney’s no.1 poet, George McKay Brown?
The anthology I’m currently reading is 1992-2001.-
embarrassed to admit that I said I would, but I didn’t. However…I have just bought his collected works and am looking forward to some light and delightful reading if these words from ‘the poet’ are typical: When all the dancers and masks had gone inside
His cold stare
Returned to its true task, interrogation of silence.-
collected ‘poems’ not works
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Yup – that sounds like GMB – he inspired so much of my print work when I was at college.
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I wish I had been inspired at art school. I allowed myself to be ‘shaped’ into a worse artist than when I arrived.
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At least I had the courage to quit and go to university. Ah! The world of grants and state-paid fees.
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Benefit of being a ‘mature’ (haha) student.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Logging in in the forum Admin and Technical 8 years ago
Hi John
I’m assuming that you get the login screen with user name, password and the login button, but that if you click the button it just goes on showing you that screen. I wondered whether a broken page was lodged in your browser cache which is stopping the ‘logged in’ screen appearing even though you have successfully logged in. I’m not saying…[Read more] -
Athelstone posted a new activity comment 8 years ago
Sandra, DON’T PANIC. I extended the deadline to the 30th in the hope that some of our former entrants might find their way here in the extra time.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Festival Dreams in the forum Blogs 8 years ago
I so wish I’d been there to hear you speak, Skylark. You may be tired of hearing it but you really do deserve your success. Not just for Home, which is a fantastic book, but for the years of contributions to everybody who knows you – the encouragement and the example and damn near 100% good nature and positivity.
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Athelstone posted an update 8 years ago
@jd73 Enjoyed your comp entry. It reminded me of your namesake’s Struldbruggs (it isn’t you is it, Mr. Swift?) but damned by curiosity rather than fate. And an ending even bleaker than Swift imagined.
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Athelstone posted an update 8 years ago
@squidge great comp entry. Really enjoyed the play on decoration as a metaphor for life.
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Athelstone posted an update 8 years ago
@seagreen love the comp entry. Very moving take on the topic.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Den monthly competition September 2018 in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 8 years ago
Bonjour
When we lived in La Rochelle, my governess tried to make me say ‘Bonjour,’ to people we met in the street. It was polite she said, I would never be a gentleman if I did not learn to be polite. But I was shy, and after our morning walk she would scold me, and shake me impatiently. Papa was away at the war and Maman was – distant. I knew s…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Den of Writers – Forum Feedback in the forum Admin and Technical 8 years ago
The easiest way to protect your writing from unwanted attention is to set up a private group. Explain what it’s about in the description and then people can ask to join or you can invite them.
That’s one reason why the writing challenge group A Room with a View will be changed to a private group as soon as writing begins.
If you are really…[Read more]
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Athelstone posted an update 8 years ago
I feel another tip coming on. Desperate to retrieve something from the Word Cloud? Do you know some distinctive word or phrase in the text? Well, it’s worth a try, but prepare for disappointment. While the Cloud was up and about, Google cached a lot of its content on its own servers. It does this with many sites to speed up searches. So you could…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Receiving an email headed 'Offer of Representation'…. in the forum Podium 8 years ago
Hey, Kaz – fantastic. And really well-deserved!
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Athelstone replied to the topic Hello All in the forum Coffee Shop 8 years ago
Ding ding ding – nope, still true! Brilliant news, Janette. Well done. And yes, it sounds very unusual.
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collected ‘poems’ not works
Yup – that sounds like GMB – he inspired so much of my print work when I was at college.
I wish I had been inspired at art school. I allowed myself to be ‘shaped’ into a worse artist than when I arrived.
At least I had the courage to quit and go to university. Ah! The world of grants and state-paid fees.
Benefit of being a ‘mature’ (haha) student.