Birdy @ The Hurly Burly

Birdy

The Hurly Burly, 25/5/12, Brighton Fringe Festival

Photo from here

It occurred to us that the entire Brighton Festival and Festival Fringe had passed without us really noticing. Determined to enjoy something on offer with only 3 days remaining, we discovered Birdy. It is described as a 'fizzling, dark fairytale...with live music and physical mayhem,' on the festival website...and it truly is a fantastic and hilarious twist on the classic fairy tale that I would highly recommend! Click below for a synopsis and review...

New home

Apologies for my absence - I have recently relocated and I am without Internet. Which, of course, has made me come to realise how much I rely on it. I don't think I could find a library catalogue in a library, let alone use one; I wouldn't know how to access newspaper archives; I don't think I'd even have the strength to pick up an Encyclopaedia...Internet has been a blessing and a curse!


It's the little things that bother me, because I'm perfectly happy to let my email inbox stagnate, and I don't care about catching up on the TV programmes I've missed. 


I hate not being able to use a search engine to find out that random bit of information that I just can't quite remember. An actor's name, where Budapest is, where my nearest post box is...things that don't require a trip to the library, but which will absolutely do my head in if I don't find out the answers straight away!


So, if I never do return to blogging, assume I have been driven crazy from not being able to find out how many kilometres are in a mile. Or something like that.

Genre boundaries

I came across a new genre definition the other day - 'hysterical realism'. I was doing a bit of research into The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, and I was surprised to find this genre pop up when I had been expecting to see 'magical realism' mentioned. I had read the novel thinking about how it related to the magical realism genre, and I started to wonder, 'have I read it wrong? Should I read it again and re-evaluate?' (and then, of course, 'but I won't have time before we look at it at uni next week!')


We've been looking at genre more broadly in relation to horror films as well, and one of the questions that has arisen is whether or not genre is of any use as a tool for analysis. Boundaries are constantly being blurred; for example, horror films incorporate the gothic, thriller, murder mystery, some romance...I've even heard the word 'goreno' mentioned....


We have 'genre fiction', which isn't considered especially literary. But then works considered highly literary contain elements of genre fiction. I would argue that a great literary work like Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children is a work of magical realism, which I believe contains elements of fantasy. And the list could go on, along with the arguments.


I used to tell myself, 'I want to write a novel in X genre because it is better, and I won't touch X genre with a ten foot barge pole.' But classification is messy, and boundaries become blurred, and some of the best works aren't afraid to mix it up a bit.
We all interpret stories differently. Actually, we all interpret all sorts of things differently, so the idea of a one-size-fits-all classification system seems frankly laughable. Sure, it may help when used as guidance rather than rule, but I think if you have a story that you want to tell, just tell it without worrying about sticking to particular genre conventions. Sticking to convention means you're not offering anything new, and your story will have been heard a thousand times before. Conversely, if you end up with a story that has been heard a thousand times before, maybe then look at different genres to add a bit of spice and sparkle...


My attitude towards genre as a writer is different to when I'm considering it from the reader perspective, and I imagine that could be true more broadly. But I stand by the belief that anything can be used to your advantage if you approach it with the right attitude!

An accidental pilgrimage

Somehow, whilst on my cycling journey, I made accidental pilgrimages to two places that captured the heart of my inner child; the Alice Liddell memorial in Lyndhurst, and various tributes to the Famous Five at Corfe Castle. 


For those who don't know, Alice Liddell was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice in her adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. And the Famous Five are...well, how to put them into words? They are Enid Blyton's most masterful creation in my opinion, and I feel sure that before Harry Potter came along, no series of books had captured the imagination of so many children quite like this. (That being said, I don't know how famous they are outside of England...)


I wrote before about how good the journey felt for my soul, and this is one of the main reasons why...


Pictures and more explanations below:

Journey or destination

Hi!


I'm back from my cycling holiday and feeling so alive and inspired! It's amazing what fresh air and beautiful sights can do for the soul...I even found myself wishing for some Wordsworth or Byron, any Romantic poems, really, because I felt they would make more sense, or speak more truth when read in context in the natural world.


In fact, I would say it was more than a holiday, and that for me it was more like an adventure.

And what an adventure it was....

The second time

I know it's trite, but the second time feels so much better than the first...

string her up on the pomegranate tree

...I think it must be because somewhere inside, I worried that it was a fluke when I first saw my name in print. 

Apologies for my absence; unfortunately I had to read Theodor Adorno's The Culture Industry during the last week of term, and it inspired a spell of nihilism with regards to my work and my blog. The challenge has been to accept that he makes a very good point, but to take it with a pinch of salt so I don't feel like I'm stuck in a Matrix. [Life is meaningful and we are all important, despite the powers that seek to control and repress us!]

I'm going on holiday on Saturday and will return in the middle of next month, hopefully with tons of inspiration and a few stories to tell. Until then, enjoy the beautiful weather if like me you are a surprised and warm Brit, and take care all x

String her up on the Pomegranate Tree

I am thrilled to announce that String her up on the Pomegranate Tree has been published in Volume magazine! I am now anxiously awaiting its arrival, with my fingers crossed that it will fit through the letter box...


Volume's launch party for issue 9 was last Thursday in east London, and I'm really annoyed that I couldn't make it, but it sounded like an amazing night and a great success. You can buy a copy of The Girls issue through their website, or wait for the PDF download to be released. 


I have posted an excerpt of the story here.