Dan Jorgensen's Blog, page 71

A Writer's Moment: 'The poet speaks to all'

A Writer's Moment: 'The poet speaks to all':   “The poet speaks to all men of that other life of theirs that they have smothered and forgotten.” –   Edith Sitwell Born in Britain...

'Our life is a book'

 

“Ourlife is a book that writes itself and whose principal themes sometimes escapeus. We are like characters in a novel who do not always understand what theauthor wants of them.” – Julien Green

The first non-French national (he’sAmerican) to be admitted to the famed Académie Française, Green was born onthis date in 1900 to American parents living in France.  After spending time in America in his lateteens, he returned to France and in 1922 – after a false start as a painter – began a nearly 80-year writing career.
 He remained there forthe rest of his long life (he died in 1998) except during WorldWar II, when he went back to the U.S.  There, he played a major role in the United StatesOffice of War Information as   the “French” voice for Voice of America and keeping up contacts with the French Resistance. 
Most noted for his 19-volume diary, spanning some 80 years, Green gave theworld a unique window on the artistic and literary scene in Paris.  The popularity of his diary was, he said,based on his free form and spontaneous writing style, folksy and highlyreadable. “The secret is to write just anything,to dare to write just anything,” he said, “because when you write just anything, you begin to say what isimportant.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Our life is a book'

A Writer's Moment: 'Our life is a book':   “ Our life is a book that writes itself and whose principal themes sometimes escape us. We are like characters in a novel who do not alwa...

'Have the willingness to fail"

 

 “I don't teach writing. I teach patience.Toughness. Stubbornness. The willingness to fail. I teach life. The odd thingis most of the things that stop an inexperienced writer are so far from thetruth as to be nearly beside the point. When you feel doubt about your talent,that is your talent. People who have no talent don't have any doubt.” ―Richard Bausch

 

Bornan identical twin at Fort Benning, GA in 1945, Bausch is a novelist, shortstory writer and Professor in the Writing Program at Chapman University inOrange, CA.  He is the author of 13novels – highlighted by the multi-award winning Peace – 9 short story collections and 1 volume of poetry.  His most recent novel is 2023’s Playhouse.

 

Histwin brother Robert, who died of cancer in 2018, also was a noted writer and produced 9 novels – led by the award-winning A Hole in the Earth and AlmightyMe (which became both a best-selling book and the popular movie Bruce Almighty).  He also wrote a  collection of short stories and was a writing professorat several universities.

 

RichardBausch said he often gets questions about what to do if you get “writer’sblock” and find yourself stuck.  “Whenyou reach a place where you feel blocked, lower your standards and keep ongoing,” he said.  “There is no possibleway to do permanent damage to a piece of writing. You cannot ruin it. You canonly make it a little better a little at a time.”

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A Writer's Moment: 'Have the willingness to fail"

A Writer's Moment: 'Have the willingness to fail":     “I don't teach writing. I teach patience. Toughness. Stubbornness. The willingness to fail. I teach life. The odd...

A Writer's Moment: 'Life's greatest adventure'

A Writer's Moment: 'Life's greatest adventure':   “Learning should be a joy and full of excitement. It is life's greatest adventure; it is an illustrated excursion ...

'Life's greatest adventure'

 

“Learningshould be a joy and full of excitement. It is life's greatest adventure; it isan illustrated excursion into the minds of the noble and the learned.”– Taylor Caldwell

Born in England on Sept. 7, 1900Caldwell emigrated to the U.S. in 1907 and spent many of her formative yearsliving in poverty after her father died. It shaped her values and she said she always wanted to have money andnever again live in fear of want.  That goal was achieved with her writing successes; her book sales exceeding 40 million copies.

 

A writer even before leaving England(where she won a Charles Dickens Prize for young writers) she became a prolificauthor of popular fiction, writing under her own name and the pen names MarcusHolland, Max Reiner and J. Miriam Reback, her actual married name.

 

In her fiction, she often used realhistorical events or persons combined with her own vivid imagination, writingbestsellers like Dynasty of Death, Dear and Glorious Physician(about Saint Luke), The Earth is the Lord's (about Genghis Khan), and Captainsand the Kings.   Before her death atage 85 she had 50 novels published and purportedly discarded 150 more. 

 

 A self-proclaimed “bornskeptic” Caldwell said her mantra was simple: “Acquire an education, workextremely hard, and never deviate from my goal to make it.”

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A Writer's Moment: 'Enduring literature that Impacts lives'

A Writer's Moment: 'Enduring literature that Impacts lives':   “ I hope to be remembered for writing books about social justice that also have enough aesthetic value to endure as wor...

'Enduring literature that Impacts lives'

 

“Ihope to be remembered for writing books about social justice that also haveenough aesthetic value to endure as works of literature.” – Jonathan Kozol

 

Born on Sept. 5,1936 Kozol is anAmerican writer and educator best known for his books on both public education andhomelessness.

 

Afterwriting a novel The Fume of Poppies, he began a string of award-winningnonfiction works with the book Death at an Early Agein 1967.  A description of his first yearas a teacher in the Boston Public Schools it won the National Book Award inScience, Philosophy and Religion and has sold more than two million copies inthe United States and Europe alone.

 

His book Rachel and Her Children:Homeless Families in America alsowon numerous awards including the Conscience-in-Media Award from theAmerican Society of Journalists and Authors.  His book Amazing Grace:  The Lives of Children And The Conscience of aNation earned him the prestigious Ainsfield-Wolf literary award, whichhonors works that make important contributions to the understanding of racismand the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture.

 

Kozol also founded The EducationAction Fund, which serves as a nonprofit charitable fund to provide assistanceto many of the children and families profiled in his books.

  

“I try to write a narrative that will not only challenge but also entice the reader intothe lives of children.”

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A Writer's Moment: 'The power of imagination'

A Writer's Moment: 'The power of imagination':   “The power of imagination makes us infinite.” – John Muir Born in Scotland in 1838, Muir emigrated to the U.S. i...