Flannery O'Connor: From Mysteries and Manners "I often ask myself what makes a story work, and what makes it hold up as a story and I have decided that it is probably some action, some gesture of a character that is unlike any other in the story, one which indicates where the real heart of […]
The Anagogical Moment, Referencing the Mystery. Read More »
I so enjoy reading John Le Carre whose masterful writing offers a lesson in how to write with precision, creating layers of meaning in finely honed phrases. Here is the opening passage from The Perfect Spy, a seemingly straightforward account of a man, Marcus Pym, striding across a square on a rainy evening, headed toward
The Perfect Passage: John Le Carre Read More »
As part of preparing for my talk at Mythcon — which will be focusing on the re-interpretation of myths in modern literature, especially as this is the anniversary of C. S. Lewis’ brilliant novel Till We Have Faces, based on the myth of Cupid and Psyche — I have been reading widely in the histories and
Orality and Literacy: The Sound of Language. Read More »
I have just finished reading Signs Preceding the End of the World, by Mexican author Yuri Herrera and it is an amazing and haunting work. A young woman Makina is given a note from her mother to take to the older brother who has disappeared into the North. Along the way, Makina encounters a series
Of Border Crossings and Mythic Journeys : Yuri Herrera Read More »
I am so excited to share two new poems from author and poet Marly Youmans (whose previous work I have reviewed here and here). Recently, I realized that the Journal of Mythic Arts Poetry archives was incomplete without something from Marly, whose work in mythic and fairy tale poetry is really stunning. I asked, and
Two New Gorgeous Poems from Marly Youmans Read More »
It is easy to forget that Easter so focused on the Son, is also about the Mother and in 20th century mystic and author Adrienne Von Speyr‘s brilliant work Handmaid of the Lord, Von Speyr examines the significance and importance of Mary’s life: “Her first Yes to the angel, her first joy at conception, her
Reading Adrienne Von Speyr on Easter Morning Read More »
Quite a while ago I wrote about attending a conference in which one of the novels we were discussing was Emil Zola’s terrific novel, Au Bonheur Des Dames (The Ladies Delight.) The novel, set in the late 1860’s, centers on the invention of the department store (based on the historical store Bon Marché in Paris). The owner Mouret
Fiction and Family Meet At the Bon Marche Read More »
A wonderful way to celebrate Flannery O’Connor’s birth and death, is to listen to this very rare and wonderful recording of her reading “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” — one of her best short stories. It is so different from reading this story to yourself, hearing instead her wry, deep Georgia drawl reading
Happy Birthday Flannery O’Connor Read More »
There is something fabulous (and enviable for this writer) at the fertile co-creative spirit between an author and a book illustrator. Over the years, author Marly Youmans has worked with artist Clive Hicks Jenkins to create stunning books — old school style with beautiful original color artwork for the covers, and lovely black and
Clive Hicks Jenkins and his Evocative Book Illustrations for Youmans’ Maze of Blood Read More »
“In the end, he thought, a neat labyrinth or an untidy maze was a simple place. You reached its heart and were devoured by the beast, or you reached its heart, and the spot was bare and pulseless. Maybe the beast and the blankness were the same. Maybe it was the emptiness that had teeth
An Early Review of Maze of Blood by Marly Youmans Read More »
