BY MARY DOWNES How Nikos Kazantzakis’ “The Last Temptation of Christ” changed my understanding of Christianity - at 24, Jesus of Nazareth became personal.
Tag: Inspiration
The Poem Is a Place in Which to Feel: Mary Oliver’s Tribute to Walt Whitman
In this stirring tribute to her shadow-companion and first poetic love Walt Whitman, poet Mary Oliver describes the experience of awakening to poetry as a door to the temple, a place 'in which to feel'.
This is the Life: Annie Dillard Asks, Then What?
Annie Dillard celebrates humanity by taking the widest view of its activities, hopes, dreams and values. She then asks, what would we really do with this new, expanded perspective?
Jennifer Chesnut – Little Bird
Jennifer Chesnut wrote Little Bird while doing what she does every morning after rising – she was looking out the window, processing dreams, watching birds and writing poetry.
Amy Lowell – A Blockhead
A modernist poet deeply influenced by Ezra Pound's Imagist movement, Amy Lowell was an energetic and innovative voice in early 20th century poetry.
Mary Oliver – Wild Geese
Wild Geese runs like an exhalation, beginning with a lifting of the weight of religious culpability - in the prairies and the deep trees, there is no onus to be good nor to string oneself out in repentance.
Why I Write – Nicholas Trandahl
Religion and faith are two of the most difficult subjects to write about according to Nicholas Trandahl, author of the poem, The Chapel.
Running After Loves – Ray Bradbury on Fostering Hunger in Writing
'How long has it been since you wrote a story where your real love or your real hatred somehow got onto the paper?' Finding the truth of our authentic passions is the key to forming the foundations of a writing practice, according to science fiction author Ray Bradbury.
Why I Write – Caroline Goodwin
Writing can be anything, from self-discovery to incorporating pain to establishing direction, according to poet Caroline Goodwin, who featured in The Dewdrop a couple of weeks ago with her poem, Not I'll Not, from her book, Custody of the Eyes.