Nathalie Abi-Ezzi considers her relationship with dogs, both literary and real life, how canine companions have influenced her writing, and what writers can learn from pet ownership.
'Rosamond Lehmann, Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara Pym have been a source of strength. The story of Barbara Pym's rediscovery by the literary world, sixteen years after being dropped by her publisher is one that must give heart to all writers.'
'It could be argued that this human drive for narrative has constituents similar to appetite and, say, sleep. I can't prove this scientifically, but imagining a world without literature is like imagining Cumbria without fells or lakes. '
'I'd love to rewrite Barnaby Rudge. Principally, to do justice to the most interesting and unusual character in the book — Hugh, hostler and principle rioter, is crude, earthy, sexy, torn between a basic decency and anarchy for anarchy's sake.'
'Although you can imagine the Saffron Hill rookery that Oliver Twist was spirited away to by the Artful Dodger to meet Fagin, the place itself is now home to luxury apartments, and shops. Dickens' poor no longer live in the city centre.'
Born in Soviet-era Ukraine, Vitali Vitaliev has written books in both Russian and English. In this essay he considers the joys and challenges experienced by bilingual authors and revisits his childhood to remember his first teacher of English.
Ray French examines the concept of voice confrontation – the term for a dislike of one’s own speaking voice – and the implications for writers who must read their work aloud, going back to his roots to discover the many elements that inform his approach to performing his writing.
'London is of course, a literary city, a city of writers... A few of those writers lived in my neighbourhood. All have walked the same streets I have. We've drunk in at least one or two of the same pubs. Crossed and ridden on the same river. '
'When life began to be all about organising carers, care homes, sale of the family home, I surprised myself by turning to fantasy; the joy of sitting down on the bus for a few minutes and entering another world. '
Ben Rhydding was once a grand Gothic mansion in Yorkshire, built to provide the ‘water cure’ to the Victorian elite. Tamar Yellin explores the history of this ill-fated building and how it inspired a novel.
'Agatha Christie, for example, was so shy she would retreat from a party even as she stood at the door. For the tenth anniversary of The Mousetrap, she arrived at The Savoy celebration and was turned away, unable to admit who she was.'
'It is certainly possible that the ability to correct our work so easily has made us lazier, as well as more slapdash, since we enjoy the luxury of knowing that every word typed is a suggestion, not an irreversible commitment.'