CREATIVE RAGBAG OF NEWS AND IDEAS…A new book after 15 years…A new library…A new blog feature
A NEW NOVEL
Fifteen years after the publication of the massive bestseller (massive in size and sales) Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke is bringing out her second novel (with another one in the pipeline). It’s heartening news for slow writers (like me) and fans of fantasy fiction. Neil Gaimen called her debut “Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years” while Richard Madely (of Richard and Judy fame) said it was the best novel he ever read.
Did you love Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ?
It sat on my bedside table for a long, long time. I think I got about a third of the way through before finally giving it away. I could take the magic and the alternative 19th century, but there wasn’t enough story to hold my interest. Perhaps I gave up too soon. Perhaps I prefer Narnia magic, child-sized.
The new novel Piranesi, will be published this time next year by Bloomsbury. A man named Piranesi lives in a giant house which is the only world he’s ever known until messages start to appear….
Read more in The Bookseller
A NEW LIBRARY
In Britain 130 libraries closed last year…while last week New York celebrated the opening of it latest public library. It sits on a prime location on the East River, just across from the United Nations building in the largely residential borough of Queens.
It has:
50,000 + books, including Spanish and Chinese collections,
A cyber center
An event space
A children’s area
A dedicated Quiet Room
Plus designer furniture and an art installation by Julianne Swartz
It cost oodles amount of money, of course, and building started before Trump became president. I imagine it would be much harder to get a project like this off the wish-list now in the US but it is good to know it has opened and is operating.
Read The Guardian article to find out more
A NEW BLOG FEATURE
This is intended to be occasional round up of news and interesting ideas about the creative life and it won’t be all about writing (although I suspect a lot of it will be). Let’s see how it goes…
BACK TO CREATIVE WRITING SCHOOL — 120+ reviews on Amazon and over 75% gave it five stars
A Good Confession
"Unputdownable" Miriam Stoppard
BRIDGET WHELAN writer 