Friday 7 February 2025 Eskişehir, Türkiye The blank page is cold before the writer’s touch, a winter’s field before the kindling of thought. But then — ah, then! — the first spark, the strike of flint against stone, and a small ember glows in the mind’s cavern. A phrase, a character, a scene — it… Continue reading The fire and the pen
Tag: Charlotte Bronte
Beyond Glass Town
Sunday 21 April 2024 Eskişehir, Türkiye You advise me, too, not to stray far from the ground of experience, as I become weak when I enter the region of fiction. You say: “Real experience is perennially interesting, and to all men“. I feel that this also is true, but, dear Sir, is not the real… Continue reading Beyond Glass Town
Canada Slim and the Promised Land
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 21 January 1858 “I am astonished more and more at the stupid extravagance… Fashion rules so absolutely… The people in the house would lend me any amount of flower garden bonnets if I would but go out in them. This is so like the Americans… They are generous and kind but… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Promised Land
Canada Slim and Last Year´s Man
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 19 December 2016 Now, Belgians love a good celebration, but a big night in the Belgian boozers often leads to mornings of regret and grim reflection. Being the chaste daughter of an English curate, nights in a bar were probably not part of Charlotte Bronte´s story, but her unrequited love for a married… Continue reading Canada Slim and Last Year´s Man
Canada Slim and the Days Confused
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 19 December 2016 Time changes a place. A place changes a person. I think back to the little town of Lachute, Quebec, Canada, where I went to high school. Many of the people I remember and much of what I knew is gone. “Progress” has arrived in the form of shopping malls and… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Days Confused
Canada Slim and the Teacher’s Travels
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 14 December 2016 They are beloved by everyone from misunderstood teens and fools for love to the serious-minded middle-aged and those of a critical bent. Now the Bronte sisters are taking centre stage again as the bicentary of Charlotte´s birth (born 21 April 1814) brings a host of events at their Yorkshire home… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Teacher’s Travels