Ian Gouge's Blog, page 24

Putting pen to paper – w/c 25th September

Time to look back / forward. How did I get on last week? A good week. Especially pleasing is the new short story work. So, in terms of writing-related events and writing itself, what does the next week hold? #WritingCommunity #writers #readingcommunity #novels #poetry #shortstories #amwriting

Sonnet Man #1 – “On being thrown over”

“Giacomo Joyce”

Published by Faber in a special edition, both in terms of style and its snippets of content James Joyce’s very short story “Giacomo Joyce” serves as a way-marker for what is to follow in “Ulysses” and “Finnegan’s Wake”. Perhaps never intended to be published (it was only ever hand-written) the story is an impressionistic collection … Continue reading “Giacomo Joyce” →

“Rivers of the Unspoilt World”

Firstly I need to say that I am a great admirer of David Constantine’s short stories. And secondly, I recognise the significant achievement in the three ‘long’ short stories collected together to comprise “Rivers of the Unspoilt World”. But… …he could perhaps have made them easier to read! I’m talking about format rather than language … Continue reading “Rivers of the Unspoilt World” →

“This Fruiting Body”

All too often I find that poems concerning themselves with subjects like climate change and sexual identity try to slap you round the face with their message, or smack you between the eyes. A fair number of the poems in Caleb Parkin’s “This Fruiting Body” are far more subtle than that; they manage to get … Continue reading “This Fruiting Body” →

New podcast episode!

Just like buses, two episodes for my Walking Thru Fire podcast come along one after the other! My short story – The Piano Player – is now available. I hope you like it. Walking Thru Fire is available on all good podcast services: Audible, Spotify, Apple podcasts, Amazon Music, Deezer etc.

New podcast episode!

It has been far too long since I recorded an episode for my Walking Thru Fire podcast – but I now address that omission. My short story – Closing his account – is now available. I hope you like it. Walking Thru Fire is available on all good podcast services: Audible, Spotify, Apple podcasts, Amazon … Continue reading New podcast episode! →

Putting pen to paper – w/c 18th September

Time to look back / forward. How did I get on last week? So nine out of twelve, or 75%. I think that’s a pretty fair attempt. So, in terms of writing-related events and writing itself, what does the next week hold? #WritingCommunity #writers #readingcommunity #novels #poetry #shortstories #amwriting

Taking my own advice?

Today our daughter went off to start her four years at University. Yesterday we had the ‘dad talk’ – the somewhat self-indulgent attempt at sharing wisdom. The most pertinent piece of advice I tried to give her was to ‘make the most of it’; that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; that she will never be … Continue reading Taking my own advice? →

Putting pen to paper – w/c 11th September

So, here we go. ‘Back in the saddle’ as they say. Rather than revert to an entry a day (“been there, done that”) I thought I might try and keep myself honest by previewing the week ahead – and then in seven days’ time looking back to see how I got on. It’s all about … Continue reading Putting pen to paper – w/c 11th September →