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Recent Posts
- What’s New for the 8th of December: Elizabeth Bear fiction; some holiday related offerings including new music from The Unthanks, Americana tinged jazz, Polar Express, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Eggnog
- What’s New for the 24th of November: Norwegian winter holiday music, archival jazz, new roots music from around Europe, and more; books and what not about things fictional & medæival
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Pudding
- What’s New for the 10th of November: a grab bag of books from our favorite authors; Richard Thompson and Stephane Grappelli on film; music from all over; and comfort food
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Brandy (A Letter to Tessa)
- What’s New for the 27th of October: The Byrds Live, Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix, Some Excellent Music Reviews, Folkmanis Puppets of an Autumnal Nature, The Mouse Guard begins…
- A Kinrowan Estate story: All The World’s A Stage
- What’s New for the 13th of October: Elizabeth Bear tends a pot of turkey stock, Groot and Rocket Raccoon, A Video and Fiction set in India, Tasty music reviews, and music from Irish trad band Clannad
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Autumn is Here (A Letter to Anna)
- What’s New for the 29th of September: Louisiana’s Lost Bayou Ramblers, live music by Kathryn Tickell, Ottawa based urban fantasies by Charles de Lint, Norwegian saxophonist Karl Seglem, Gus on the Estate Kitchen garden and other Autumnal matters
- What’s New for the 15th of September: Autumn on the Estate is here
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Pudding Contest
- What’s New for the 1st of September: A grab bag of books, music, and film that touch on the theme of work
- A Kinrowan Estate story: A Ghostly Librarian
- What’s New for the 18th of August:
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Breakfast, Korean Style
- What’s New for the 4th of August: A raft of Cuban music reviews; Trader Joe’s chocolate peanut butter cookies; Looking at J.R.R. Tolkien; And a Cuban band documentary
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Kedgeree
- What’s New for July 21st: All music — books on The Pogues, Sandy Denny, Lowell George, Zappa, and more; Cajun mardi gras on film; and Cajun, zydeco, and klemer related music
- A Kinrowan Estate Stoty: A Guest Lecturer
- What’s New for the 7th of July: A Passel of Roger Zelazny Reviews, A Write-up of an Irish Pub, Two Pieces of Live Music by Rosanne Cash, Where Irish Coffee Originated, Irish (and a Little Welsh) Music of a Modern Sort
- A Travels Abroad story: Truly Shitty Celtic Metal
- What’s New for the 23rd of June: A special edition for the Solstice, Wales in literature and music, and yes, in film.
- A Kinrowan Story: The Oak King
- What’s New for the 9th of June: Some beach reads — dark fantasy, superhero romance, comic fantasy and teen aliens; Finnish fiddles, Swedish-American jazz, and an Earl Scruggs tribute, and a grab bag of archival music; glam rock on film; an Alan Moore tribute
- A Kinrowan Estate story: Chasing Fireflies
- What’s New for the 26th of May: Taza Chocolate, June Tabor live (twice), music books, remembering a beloved Irish singer, a beloved Canadian singer, and more
- A Kinrowan Estate Tale: A Restless Queen
- What’s New for the 12th of May: a Terry Pratchett edition: Discworld and other worlds, adult fantasy, YA stories, and lit-crit; new Karelian, Canadian and Big Band music; and Smithfield Fair from the archives
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A Kinrowan Estate story: A Guest Lecturer
Several Annies, do pay attention now as there will be a quiz afterwards!
Well, now. Mackenzie has asked me in as tonight’s guest lecturer. He likes to keep these seminars going through the summer months, you know, when otherwise the staff and denizens of the Kinrowan Estate get too caught up in the long days and short nights in Oberon’s Wood. Remember, Masters and Mistresses, you are supposed to be writing about books here.
And what does it mean, to write ‘about’ books? Hey? Any of you bright-eyed boys and girls ever paused to think about it, in your rush between the reference stacks and Jack’s in barrel? I’ve seen that barrel, and a mighty void it is, too. What are you all about as you proffer your analyses of art to the waiting ether?
Some might consider it a self-referential waste of time, especially the business of review and literary critique. ‘Them as can, do,’ the saying goes. ‘Them as can’t do, teach. And them as can’t do neither, criticize.’ Of course, that old saw is usually trotted out by someone who has written a bad book and been caught at it. There is power and skill needed to review a tale properly, so as to catch the casual reader’s interest and send it on like a well-aimed sling stone to find the original work itself.
But you may need to ask yourselves — and a frightening question it is — are you committing metafiction? When you write about another’s world, are you outlining the borders for the uninformed, or extending them? Are you lighting the path or creating a detour? It’s not my business or concern to tell you that — no, it’s not, so you can put away your notes and that dismayed look, young woman — it’s merely my intent to make you think about it. To read deeply and then to talk about it is a serious thing.
We all walk into books hoping. We hope for joy or mere amusement; for fulfillment of a dream and the filling of an idle hour; for a clear look at something we have glimpsed in dreams, or the first look at what has been unimaginable. When we consent to read a tale, we’re consenting to a journey that we have to take on faith. We hope to be well and safely conveyed the whole way, and not left robbed of our time by some nameless highwayman. We trust the writers to know the way and show us all the best sights. At their best, all writers take us on the perfect road; at your best, you are sharing your experience on that road.
Consider yourselves cartographers, ladies and gentlemen. Every book opened is a new world discovered. Worlds are vast things. They harbor as much danger as delight; neither one is always easy to find, and maps are required. Not all worlds will sustain life — a warning to the explorer behind you on the road can give warning that ahead is a deadly insufficiency of oxygen, or warmth, or wit. A bright red ‘Here Be Dragons’ pulls in as many eager travellers as it warns off the timid ones: someone languishing for the company of dragons may never find their heart’s desire without your directions.
So sharpen your pens and calibrate your compasses. The folk on staff all brought out their brightest inks, and the maps displayed in the books are grand examples to emulate.
Diverse Voices
Diverse Voices is our catch-all for writers and other staffers who did but a few reviews or other writings for us. They are credited at the beginning of the actual writing if we know who they are which we don't always. It also includes material by writers that first appeared in the Sleeping Hedgehog, our in-house newsletter for staff and readers here. Some material is drawn from Folk Tales, Mostly Folk and Roots & Branches, three other publications we've done.
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About Diverse Voices
Diverse Voices is our catch-all for writers and other staffers who did but a few reviews or other writings for us. They are credited at the beginning of the actual writing if we know who they are which we don't always. It also includes material by writers that first appeared in the Sleeping Hedgehog, our in-house newsletter for staff and readers here. Some material is drawn from Folk Tales, Mostly Folk and Roots & Branches, three other publications we've done.