Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.
So said Fernando Pessoa, and you might be inclined to agree with him. What better way to escape when life proves dull, painful, or most difficult of all, dull and painful at the same time. But books aren't just about escaping, some of the best novels bring us towards a greater understanding of our own life and reality, highlighting all manner of emotions, societal glitches and political outrages that we might otherwise find too difficult to discuss.
This month we're celebrating all areas of literature - from escapist fantasy to grim reality. We'll be speaking to young and emerging writers about their paths and passions, we'll discuss the relationship that literature has with the other art forms, and we'll be meeting producers and project managers in the world of lit.
We're very excited to be pairing up with Bath Literature Festival - running until 8th March - with whom we'll be sharing insider insights and youth creative writing. We'll also be heading to the festival ourselves, offering soundbites from their wide variety of talks and reporting on the key themes.
As part of literature month we'll be profiling the young poets who were selected as winners, runners up and highly commended in November's 'At War' competition. We'll run interviews, share the winning poems and offer advice directly from these brilliant young writers. Watch out early in the month for the full anthology being published on Voice, where you can read all of the selected poems in one place.
We're also teaming up with City Read later in the month. This April they are getting people reading Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London. You can read a preview here, and check back on Voice late in March when we'll be speaking to the founders, and offering copies of the book away! If you'd like to write your own review of the book, just sign up to our blogs and get writing!
Here are a few articles to look out for this month...
- Emily will be discussing why trangressional protagonists are so rarely female.
- Meridith will question why we don't have more published young writers.
- Mollie will look at the tensions between plays and novels, and decide if they both deserve the title of 'literature'
- Elspeth will look at literature's influence on music
- Jethro will look at spoken word artists, and the influence of great writers on their work.
Also, don't forget that it's International Women's Day on March 8th. We'll be writing our own content, but we'd love to hear from you if you have strong opinions about women in the arts! Get blogging!
Finally, any other blogs, reviews or thoughts you have that aren't related to the theme we would still like to hear from you. If you don't already have a blogging account, it is very easy to register. If you already have an account, make the most of it!
Image courtesy of Raúl Hernández González
0 Comments