This year, I haven't read nearly as many children's and YA books as usual, on account of the Jane Project.

( A list of Jane-related books here )

Lately, I've been giving some serious thought to literary criticism. In part, it stems from my investigation into the life of Jane Austen, who is the subject of my work-in-progress: a retelling of her life using period verse. It probably won't qualify as serious biography despite the phenomenal amount of research I've done (and continue to do), ( Read more... )

First, a word about trope. I first heard the word in a music history class in college. I took two full years of music history, since I was a music major, and the word "trope" cropped up in the very first one, the study of Medieval and Renaissance music. I learned then that a trope is a theme, and Gregorian chants are typically tropes. Other ( Read more... )

Today's quotes all have something to do with poetry. And yet, I'm sure there's a little something in there for the rest of the writers I know as well.

From poet and writer Ezra Pound:
Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree.

Louis MacNeice, writer of one of my favorite poems, "Bagpipe Music", said: ( Read more... )