… I am writing to you from the city of time interrupted. The slow catastrophe does not end…
– Henri Michaux, (1899-1984) in Trials, Exorcisms (Gallimard, 1946) [As taken from my writer’s notebook, May 2020 [MN]]
A collection of writings about place space writing and art …
… I am writing to you from the city of time interrupted. The slow catastrophe does not end…
– Henri Michaux, (1899-1984) in Trials, Exorcisms (Gallimard, 1946) [As taken from my writer’s notebook, May 2020 [MN]]

These days what’s the most we can realistically hope for but some form of ideal dystopia. Perhaps an isolated bunker in a distant land deep beneath the surface fitted with all the conveniences that seem so essential, naturally. We could sleep safe and soundly there and dream plastic dreams of our synthetic future as we […]
An Ideal Dystopia — cakeordeathsite

Photo by Martine Franck/Magnum Photos ‘Our society is one not of spectacle, but of surveillance; under the surface of images, one invests bodies in depth; behind the great abstraction of exchange, there continues the meticulous, concrete training of useful forces; the circuits of communication are the supports of an accumulation and a centralization of knowledge; […]
Michel Foucault — microprose

As writers, we often find ourselves collecting notebooks in an attempt to fill them. Just as often, the ratio of empty notebooks to full starts to lean heavy on the “empty” side, but our compulsion to surround ourselves with empty pages is real. Curious that, for many of us, the empty page is a source […]
Six notebooks that guarantee you will get some writing done today, probably — B.W. McDermott

Some observations popping out when I was reading two books during the lockdown: Anatomie Artistique de l’Homme (1959) by Arnoult Moreaux and the Artist’s Handbook (1987) by Ray Smith. Two books which deeply modified the way I was seeing things around me, landscapes as well as people, bodies. And also, it gave another insight into […]
Art practice — Space in light
The idea most of us have about poetry is so hazy that we take this impression of haziness for our definition of poetry. La plupart des hommes ont de la poésie une idée si vague que ce vague même de leur idée est pour eux la définition de la poésie.
Poetry (a text of Paul Valéry translated by Vadim Bystritski) — Before and After Francis Ponge

It’s pretty obvious from my blog posts this year, and particularly my involvement in co-hosting with Lizzy the Fitzcarraldo Editions Fortnight, that I’m a huge fan of the publisher’s output. In fact, I credit their books with my rekindled love of the essay format as so many of their non-fiction works have taken that genre […]
“…death and the photograph as memento mori…” #indexcards #moyradavey @FitzcarraldoEds — Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
I Remember by Georges Perec French Memoir Original title – Je Me souviens Translator – Philip Terry (with notes and Intro by David Bellos) Source – personal copy When I saw Gallic was bringing this out on the newish imprint Gallic Editions which has classic french lit. I decide I try this and have the […]
It is very hard to live with silence. The real silence is death and this is terrible. To approach this silence, it is necessary to journey to the desert. You do not go to the desert to find identity, but to lose it, to lose your personality, to be anonymous. You make yourself void. You […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.