Breaking this unintentional hiatus to talk to you about SABRINA by Nick Drnaso, which has just been longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Continue reading A familiar terror / On reading ‘Sabrina’ by Nick Drnaso
It’s too obvious. And yet, yes, getting someone with anxiety to write about anxiety is likely one of the hardest, most anxiety-inducing things to do. I changed jobs about 18 months ago, after starting a masters to change careers 4 … Continue reading On writing about Anxiety for On Anxiety
It has been a while – take solace in the knowledge that sometimes people have to disappear so they can come back better and louder. WordPress cashed in on an embarrassing percentage of my income a few weeks ago, … Continue reading Marianne writes fiction & reflections on writing as a woman
Precise critiquing can be so powerful. I started reading The Handmaid’s Tale some 10 years ago as a teen and dropped it halfway through. I had expected something else and failed to understand that its message was, ultimately, bigger than … Continue reading Recommended read: ‘White Women in Robes’ by Sherronda J. Brown [a cultural and historical critique of The Handmaid’s Tale]
A short, intimate story. I was so impressed to find out it isn’t fiction. Sarala Estruch’s style is assured and the second person narrative reads as much like a story as a letter to this absent parent. This short piece … Continue reading Recommended read: ‘Saturdays’ by Sarala Estruch
Try as you may to turn away from politics. Love is political. Friendship is political. Women’s bodies are political. Especially those that do not or cannot conform. “Woman is born free and everywhere she is in chains… and her body caged,” … Continue reading ‘My body is a cage’: On Fat Bodies
Just like Eudocia “Lola” Tomas Pulido who is the subject and victim of this piece, resumed to a mere Tupperware box in its taut opening line, the author is now at one with the ether. Deceased. Revisionism serves many agendas, and in this case … Continue reading Recommended read: “Lola’s story” [AKA “My Family’s Slave”]
I do not like heights. A passionate albeit awkward rock-climber with an even more awkward crotch at age 8 – the pudge had already taken on enough terrain so as to make my bottom ineligible for a ‘child-sized’ harness – with … Continue reading Recommended read: “Moving On” by Nora Ephron
On the weekend, nothing moves me more than catching up with all the great pieces I’ve missed during the 9-to-5 whirlwind. CupOfJo are curating a series of personal essays by women who write. I was able to catch up on this short personal essay by Ashley Ford [a writer, editor and public speaker. She is currently writing a memoir, and works as a senior features writer at Refinery29]. The piece explores body image and gender, namely in heterosexual relationships. This passage particularly struck me: We fell in love a thousand miles, and one time zone, apart. We read each other’s favorite … Continue reading Recommended read: “Seeing My Body With Fresh Eyes” by Ashley Ford
For the New Yorker‘s March 6 2017 issue, Zadie Smith penned a short story that appears to to be part of her dance and song Golden Age stream. Crazy They Call Me is an homage to Billie Holliday, featuring a singing Zadie. … Continue reading Recommended read: “Crazy They Call Me” by Zadie Smith
My Literary Playground 