Category Archive For "Language and Literature"
The Deletion of Faith
I was very pleased today to see the Google doodle commemorating the life and achievements of Elena Cornaro Piscopia, who lived from 1646 to 1684, and who in 1678 was the first woman in the world to receive a PhD from any university. I was less pleased to see no reference in the doodle to …
The City of Adelaide
In 1916 the ship the City of Adelaide was wrecked near Magnetic Island in Queensland. This is what remains now. Seems like an appropriate time for one of my favourite poems: Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said — “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand …
Quadrant Magazine
There is lots of great reading in this month’s Quadrant Magazine. Many of the articles are available to read online, or subscribe and have access to all of this year’s issues, and archives. Quadrant Magazine is easily the best magazine of politics and literature in Australia, and the archives are a magnificent resource.
Rules for Apostrophes
Rules for apostrophes! There are only a few, and they are simple. Rule 1. If the word is simply a plural, it does not need an apostrophe. Ever. For example, the plural of CD is CDs, not CD’s. The plural of DVD is DVDs, not DVD’s. The plural of seafood is seafoods, not seafood’s. The …
Jennifer Jones: Dark Turnings. Article on Medium
A nice article which makes sense about education and learning to read, and which mentions my new book Jennifer Jones: Dark Turnings.
Wynford Wilde Author Website
I just finished the author website for Wynford Wilde. This is the place to go for news on upcoming adventures in the Jennifer Jones series, starting with Dark Turnings, which is now available for Kindle or in paperback. Describing myself as a best selling writer was just wishful thinking a week ago, but within three …
Fast-moving Fantasy Adventure
My new book was released today, 5th of May 2017. I like it, but more importantly, people who have read it tell me they enjoyed it too. A fast-moving fantasy adventure for young adults. In the tradition of The Hobbit, it has the same moral heart as The lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
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Clive James’s Cultural Amnesia
A great book. You’ll know everything about everything when you get to the end. Buy it!
Three Years’ of Reading
I have been working on this list for a while, and wanted to get it finished this weekend. It is thirty-six books, plus a few extras. Essential books. One a month for three years. All of these are books you should know, and know well. Read them in a cycle, or pick and choose. If …
Theology By Numbers
An insightful and amusing article by Anthony Esolen on the banality of modern church music: Why, when we have a trove of profound, beautiful, and poignant hymns, do we have to endure what is banal, clunky, and silly? We have a rich treasury of hymn-poems to read, to sing, and to keep close to the heart. Some …
New English Review
The July New English Review is online. A couple of highlights: Geoffrey St John on why a nuclear Iran is a risk Israel cannot take. The argument that Iran is justified in seeking nuclear weapons because it cannot trust the US or Israel seems to me to be utterly bizarre. The US has profited not one …
Silly Person Wins Miles Franklin Award
Anna Funder has won the Miles Franklin award for her first novel All That I Am. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t comment on its literary merits. Winning a Miles Franklin is not necessarily a recommendation, since they seem frequently to have been awarded based on the level of agreement between the author’s political opinions …
Anita Heiss Again
This will be my last post on this subject. I have not read Anita Heiss’s book Am I Black Enough For You?, so I cannot comment on its literary merits. But there seems to be to be a very clear difference between those who have left negative reviews on its Amazon page, and those who …
Literature and the Search for Liberty
This essay by Mario Vargas Llosa is a month old now. It has been available since then behind paywalls. I only today found a site where the whole essay is available free. This is the first few paragraphs: What is lost on collectivists is the prime importance of individual freedom for societies to flourish and economies to thrive. The …
Qohel Blog Author Peter Wales
