hello,
my name is claire gaskin and I am new to this list. I have been following
for a week or two without contributing mainly because of time restraints and
family stuff. Its been very interesting and almost addictive to want to get
back on and see whats happened next. I'm on two poetry list, I don't know
others might be on much more, I find it quiet time consuming
when I think I should be writing but it is very stimulating which keeps me
feeling connected to a writing community so feeds my work.I am much less
likely to fall into why am I doing this unmotivated moods because of these
lists. So I am very grateful.
At the risk of sounding flaky I think the fact that David and Rayn,(hi to
you both), have continued to talk says something about the human spirit.I
sometimes pick up the underlying assumption, in general, that you can't be a
serious thinker if you say something positive and if you are not cynical. I
reject this assumption as much as I reject people being positive without
being discerning in their critique or when their positivity is about denial
and not sincere. I'm not accusing anyone of either of these things. I just
feel these issues where raised both personally and to do with writing. As
someone who teachers creative writing they are important issues to keep
thinking about.
I was at Alison's launch of The Gift on the week-end and it was great to be
there.
I must tell you Alison that my fourteen year old daughter said it is like
Harry Potter for older people. This coming from someone who read all the
Harry Potter books then re-read them to her little sister.She said she loves
it and believe me she is a tough critic,(I'm tempted to say tougher then
David with a bad knee), so you know she means it which I suppose is the
advantage of being tough. Her light is on latter in the night then is good
for me for getting her up in the morning and she is reading it in the car
etc. I love it when that happens with a book for her. I look froward to
being able to read it when she finishes.
What is the etiquette for this list? Can I put a poem straight up for
comment. Does it matter if its unpublished and out for publication etc
all the very best
claire
----- Original Message -----
From: "david.bircumshaw" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 11:38 PM
Subject: Re: Poet returning from South Korea requesting features for tour of
the USA...
> Rayn wrote:
>
> >Sympathy is usually good and good people usually have good ways of
getting
> it.<
>
>
> Well of course we all love sympathy but there's an interesting moral
tangle
> in the second part of the statement: are people who do not receive
sympathy
> necessarily 'bad' ? I think not. Day after day I walk past homeless people
> in the streets, I don't anymore pay them attention, not because I'm mean
but
> that there are too many to mentally cope with, but does my and others lack
> of care imply that these people are necessarily 'sinful'? I think not
again.
> If I saw someone I knew 'on the streets' all my care would be engaged, it
is
> just a problem of 'numbers' - we live, I think, in societies that are too
> large for the 'wiring' that evolution has given us to cope with, we 'grew
> up' in loose associations that probably numbered between 30 and 200, the
> multiplication of the contemporary world is beyond our instincts.
>
> And my knee still bloody hurts!
>
> Cheers, Rayn
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>
> David Bircumshaw
>
> Leicester, England
>
> Home Page
>
> A Chide's Alphabet
>
> Painting Without Numbers
>
> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm
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