Occasional thoughts on life, learning and creativity
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So last Tuesday evening I had the pleasure of interviewing Australian children’s and YA fantasy author Garth Nix for an event at Manchester’s Waterstones bookstore. Which, I’ll be honest, was a lot of fun. Nix is one of the most celebrated and prolific authors of the last 30 years — he’s written over 40 books,……
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Deficit. Disorder. Two words I’ve grown increasingly uncomfortable with in my thinking around ADHD of late. I don’t have Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, but over the last several months I have had the opportunity to interview a number of experts on this unexpectedly contentious but endlessly intriguing topic. I’ve spoken with award-winning authors, psychotherapists, advocates,……
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Shonda Rhimes is a successful writer, director and showrunner. She’s best known as the creator of US medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy, as well as its spin-off series, Private Practice. She’s also the executive producer of the hit US political thriller, Scandal, and has writing and directing credits on a number of other television dramas and……
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So I’ll admit there are few things more gratifying than to witness and shape the creativity of another — to watch that gentle unfurling of soul, like a wind-snatched sail, as they place their palm in yours to glide upon the eddies of their chosen art, and in so doing discover layers to their skill……
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I was invited, this past month, to reflect upon my writing influences, and in so doing share insights on how horror, as a genre, has shaped elements of my storytelling. And I won’t lie, I had a fair bit of fun contemplating this. Horror is a style of storytelling I’ve always had a love-hate relationship……
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I first came across the incredible stillness and power of Yaa Gyasi’s writing some years ago when reading a short story penned by the Ghanaian-born author in Guernica Magazine. Inscape, narrated from a daughter’s perspective, told the tale of a woman and her Ghanaian mother, weaving between themes of religion, culture and mental illness with……
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Thoroughly enjoyed being interviewed by the ever eloquent Dr Sanjida O’Connell and featured at Writersmosaic this past month. Sanjida, along with her PhDs in zoology and psychology, is an award-winning novelist and a gorgeous non-fiction writer. Which is partly why I was so excited about the opportunity to talk shop and dive into the nuts and……
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Although my love for writing came late, I think I’d always had a special regard for the power of the written word: the way life – with all its colours and vicissitudes – can be funnelled into the cool, clinical science of grammar and syntax, sentences and spellings; a domain of rules and laws. I……
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So the plan today was to fly out to Dublin, around about 3.15 this afternoon for Worldcon – a plan that has been scuppered by illness, rendering me duvet-bound within the cosy confines of my home, gazing at the grey drizzly skies outside. On the one hand, I’m gutted to be missing out on what……
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Every so often you come across words – a passage of literature, a quote, a pithy aphorism – that perfectly capture some truth inside of you; a long-held belief, an inward conviction, a sentiment so true it resonates, it seems, in every cell of your being like a well struck chord. For me, I’ve perhaps……
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Micah Yongo 