Author: penwithlit

Freelance writer and radio presenter

Drawings May 2021

Originally posted on Sketches, drawings and paintings:
This is a portrait of my daughter. She is in Tallinn. Behind her are houses that were built around the 1300s. They are called “Three Sisters”. Sketch by pencil on paper. This is a portrait of my mom when she was 19 years old.

‘The Clothes On Their Backs’ by Linda Grant

Originally posted on An Opinion or Two:
There’s a simplicity and fluidity to Linda Grant’s fourth novel that imbues a slightly odd voyeurism – that as the reader, we are sitting watching events unfold rather reading about them, such is the power of her imagery and storytelling. But there’s nothing simple about her themes, that…

Housman on The First of May

THE FIRST. O F ΜΑΥ The orchards half the wayFrom home to Ludlow fairFlowered on the first of MayIn Mays when I was there;And seen from stile or turningThe plume of smoke would showWhere fires were burningThat went out long ago. The plum broke forth in green,The pear stood high and snowed,My friends and I… Continue reading Housman on The First of May

The Mad Pomegranate Tree

I had recently been perusing Cavafy – particularly reading the essay on him written by that doyen of Dons, Maurice Bowra in his book, The Creative Experiment. Bowra, of whom it has been said, ” …..either the most distinguished or the most notorious Oxford don of the early twentieth century. Classicist, poet, wit, raconteur extraordinary, and… Continue reading The Mad Pomegranate Tree

Basho’s ‘A Lovely Spring Night…’

Originally posted on JOSHUA BARRERA:
A lovely spring night, suddenly vanished while we viewed cherry blossoms. Basho A lovely spring night…, by Joshua Barrera, metallic ink on paper, 8.5 x 11”, 2021. I felt like drawing something simple yet magical – the cherry blossoms as a spectacle of fleeting beauty and memory. It’s all about…

The Interpretation of Dreams – Sigmund Freud

Originally posted on The Philosophy of Right Left Hegelian Philosophical Journal:
The Interpretation of Dreams?(German:?Die Traumdeutung) is an 1899 book by?Sigmund Freud, the founder of?psychoanalysis, in which the author introduces his theory of the?unconscious?with respect to?dream interpretation, and discusses what would later become the theory of the?Oedipus complex. Freud revised the book at least eight…

Born April 21~ Dod Procter

Originally posted on The Misty Miss Christy:
Dod Procter (April 21, 1890-July 31, 1972) was an English painter. Procter and her husband, also an artist, met while attending art school.Biography on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dod_Procter Girl with a Parrot by Dod Procterc.1925 / Oil on canvas / 52-3/4″x34-1/4″ / Private collection Dod Procter on Artnet: http://www.artnet.com/artists/dod-procter/ Further…

Two somewhat neglected 18th Cent Philosophers

The most accessible introduction to great philosophers, for me anyway, are the You-Tube programmes made by Bryan Magee maybe some 30 years ago. Particularly interesting was Iris Murdoch talking about Philosophy and Literature. Then there was the lucid conversation with Anthony Quinton on Spinoza and Leibnitz. The clearest philosophy book I managed to grasp however,… Continue reading Two somewhat neglected 18th Cent Philosophers