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Hello there! Here is probably the last post of the year. It is the second podcast in this series, and the first podcast I have completed. It seems - to those in the know - successful. It is with Kate Rogan, the owner of an independent bookshop in Melville, Johannesburg, Love Books. Kate certainly does! And all matters relating to books - literature, publishing, books for children, e-books, bookshop management - which we discuss against a gentle backdrop of conversation in her shop. Towards the end, Kate sets out her view of the requirements for the establishment of a national reading culture, an especially interesting topic in South Africa.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the articles whose production has given me much pleasure. There is so much more to talk about. (Sounds like a title of a poem!) I will be re-engaging you all in 2021 and wish you all the best for Christmas and New Year celebrations, whatever you can make of events.

A last note of interest. The term annus horribilis was first used by the Anglican Church in 1891 to describe 1870, the year in which the dogma of papal infallibility was promulgated. Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, made the term famous in 1992 in a speech alluding to her family. The term annus mirabilis is the title of a (long) poem by John Dryden written in London in late 1667 in reference to the events of 1666! Yes, the year of the Great Fire of London and the subsequent plague was described by a thoughtful man only one year later as a year of miraculous events (basically, but not only, the reconstruction of London, 80% having been destroyed in the fire). I leave it to your imaginations to consider how you may reflect on 2020 in one year’s time. Who knows? Who knows?

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Podcast 1

Here is a repeat of the Podcast 1 I posted last Sunday. I am re-posting it because now it is in the correct format; last week it was posted as a link. Now, please click on the Play button above and enjoy the conversation.

Last Thursday saw the third article published of a trilogy on attitudes to death. The three poems were An Irish Airman Foresees His Death by WB Yeats, Death Be Not Proud by John Donne, and Ode: Intimations of Immortality on Recollections of Early Childhood by William Wordsworth. The first poem takes an un-Yeats-like calculating view of death, ‘A waste of breath the years behind,/In balance with this life, this death.’ Donne pokes fun at death in the expectation that everlasting life will ‘kill’ death - ‘why swell’st thou, then?’ Wordsworth is convinced that souls transmigrate throughout time, that the nature of life is to rob us of memory of previous existences, and that as an infant one is best placed to recollect the visions of prior souls’ passages.

Here is a lovely reading of the poem An Irish Airman Foresees his Death by the actor, Adrian Dunbar, preceded by an interesting contextualisation of the poem in contemporary history in Ireland.

I found myself modifying my views of death as I wrote. I moved from ‘The Big Sleep’ where I have been for many years, towards a ‘well, this transmigration of souls approach deserves closer study and reflection’. I will share with you any further major insights (if any) I experience.

Next week sees two posts on the Bronte sisters. I have been interested in the plethora of literary talent that the early 19th century produced, only to have that talent snatched away by untimely death. On the male side, this includes Keats, Byron and Shelley and about whom I will have something to praise soon. On the female side, included are the Bronte sisters. These latter also developed in an unhealthy, hostile environment. How did they do it? This is my exploration next week, and of course it is accompanied by some beautiful prose and poetry. There exists a third, more personal reason for these articles which you shall discover upon reading.

My mission in writing The LitLetter is crystallizing on: “You can create your own life. You should not rehearse for another opportunity - which will not eventuate in its present form.” Break some rules, ignore advice, make your own way and sail by your own lights, is the collective message of many of the poems we have discussed in the last eighteen months. How to do this requires some concentrated attention, and I have no doubt that creativity is vitally involved in this attentive address. TBE (To Be Explored further…).

As before, please remember the following message:

At the end of October you will have an option to become a paid subscriber to The LitLetter or continue to receive a free email newsletter. The option behind the paywall will have many value-added features which I will be discussing with you in the weeks to come, and setting up. Podcasts, vlogs, audio interviews with interesting people in society, links to other relevant websites and newsletters, articles on contemporary events and developments, and much more.

Relevant, reflective, and rewarding reading, regularly

Happy reading and reflecting!

Ian

The LitLetter

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