January 2012
3 posts
Nevermore? →
“The way to write is to throw your body at the mark when your arrows are spent.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
10 tags
A Day in Lowell with Kerouac's Ghost
One of our long time contributors, Lucas Lammott, recently visited Lowell, Massachusetts, which is the hometown of Jack Kerouac. We cannot think of a better way to ring in the New Year! He took some great snaps, which he allowed us to repost here. Enjoy!
Kerouac was born on 9 Lupine Road in the West Centralville section of Lowell Massachusetts, 2nd floor.
Lowell High...
December 2011
7 posts
“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
– Charles Dickens
“Write drunk; edit sober.”
– Ernest Hemingway
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Happy Deathday, Ms. Brontë!
On this day in 1848, English novelist, Emily Brontë, died of tuberculosis at the age of thirty.
Emily, of the famed “Brontë Sisters”, was the middle sister and the author of the novel, Wuthering Heights, published in 1847. Tragically, this is the only novel published by the young writer, although she did pen several poems , often under the alias of...
“Love the earth and sun and animals,
Despise riches, give alms to everyone that...”
– ~Walt Whitman
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Happy Deathday, Ms. Wheatley!
On this day, in 1784, Phillis Wheatley, the first prominent black poet in the United States of America, died from unspecified causes at the age of 31, followed shortly after by her infant son.
Born in Gambia, Wheatley was made a slave at age seven. She was purchased by the Wheatley family of Boston. Thankfully, this family taught her to read and write, and always encouraged the young...
“Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite: “Fool!” said my muse...”
– Philip Sydney
November 2011
9 posts
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Happy Deathday, Mr. Wilde!
“This wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has to go”
This is supposedly the last witticism ever spoken by Oscar Wilde, before he died on November 30th in 1900. Wilde suffered from an ear infection, as well as several other health issues stemming from the two years of hard labor he served. Cause of death has been put down to cerebral meningitis, although many...
“A writer - and, I believe, generally all persons - must think that whatever...”
– Jorge Luis Borges
Rest in Peace, Anne McCaffrey. →
Ms. McCaffrey passed away on November 21st. May flights of dragons sing thee to thy rest.
(sorry for the brief posting… we’re baking pies and playing lots of scrabble. Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving! )
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Happy Deathday, Mr. Dahl!
On this day in 1990, beloved children’s author Roald Dahl died from a blood disease at the age of 74. Apparently, Dahl was buried with his snooker cues, burgundy wine, chocolates, HB pencils and a power saw… we don’t know about you, but we cannot think of a better way to go out.
Mr. Dahl is responsible for some of the most loved children’s books of our time. To name just a few;...
7 tags
Happy Deathday Mr. Ignatow!
On this day in 1997, American poet, David Ignatow died at the age of 83.
During his literary career, Ignatow worked as an editor of American Poetry Review, Analytic, Beloit Poetry Journal, and Chelsea Magazine, and as poetry editor of The...
The deadline for the Walt Whitman Award has been... →
“Better than honor and glory, and History’s iron pen,
Was the thought of...”
– Richard Watson Gilder (American Poet and Veteran of the American Civil War)
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DWC Visits Walden Pond
A few members of the DWC took a trip to Walden Pond, this past weekend.
To those who are unfamiliar, Walden Pond is a historic state park reserve in Massachusetts, where American writer and philosopher, Henry David Thoreau, lived a simple and hermetic lifestyle, whilst composing his masterpiece, Walden.
It’s hard to believe that it...
“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never...”
– Beatrix Potter
October 2011
9 posts
9 tags
Milton, Blake, Pound, Lowell, Rimbaud, and more.... →
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“Unbeing dead isn’t being alive.”
– E.E. Cummings ( we thought this quite the zombifabulous quote for Halloween)
7 tags
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Dylan Thomas reading his “Poem in...
“A poet can survive everything but a misprint.”
– Oscar Wilde (And by the way, happy 157th Birthday, old fellow! )
8 tags
“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through...”
– Aldous Huxley
September 2011
6 posts
10 tags
Happy Deathday, Mr. Melville!
On September 28th in 1891, American author, Herman Melville passed away at the age of 72.
Melville is, of course, best remembered for his novel Moby Dick, or The Whale. But what you may not be as familiar with is his first work, Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life, or Four Months’ Residence in a Valley of the Marquesas (1846), in which he described his...
“A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a...”
– Dylan Thomas
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Glenn Close reads Pablo Neruda’s “I...
16 tags
Happy Deathday, Mr. Neruda!
On this day in 1973, beloved Chilean poet and 1971 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature, Pablo Neruda, died of prostate cancer at the age of 69.
Neruda’s impact on other poets cannot be denied and due to the sheer volume of his work, there is little chance of Neruda ever being forgotten. Translations of his work can be found in almost every language and his poetry...
“One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”
– Jack Kerouac
August 2011
8 posts
6 tags
Important Update from DWC : Back to School Special
Firstly, we must apologize for our long absence online.
One of our main contributors was in midst of a BIG move from Chicago to Massachusetts! Our other main writer was busy prepping his syllabus for the upcoming school year and well… it’s just been one absurdly busy month!
Anyway, we will be returning to the blog this month and hopefully we will make up for lost time. We are also...
“Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history,...”
– Herman Hesse
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Happy Deathday Mr. Hesse!
On this day in 1962, German author, Herman Hesse, died of a Cerebral Hemorrhage. He died in Switzerland at the age of 85.
Undoubtedly, Hesse is most well remembered for his novel, “Siddhartha”, published in 1922. If you have not read it, we’ll not spoil the experience for you here, but we will say that Hesse’s crafting of Siddhartha’s journey is...
Anyone have suggestions for how to help Poe House? →
“Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out...”
– Flannery O’Connor
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Happy Deathday Mr. Conrad and Ms. O'Connor!
On August 3rd in 1924, novelist, Joseph Conrad died at the age of 66 from heart failure. On the same day in 1964, Southern writer, Flannery O’Connor died at the very young age of 39, from complications due to Lupus.
Joseph Conrad is, of course, most well known for his novel Heart of Darkness, which was first published in three parts via Blackwood’s...
“Writers write, and they write, and they go on writing, in some cases long after...”
– Raymond Carver
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Happy Deathday Mr. Carver!
On this day, in 1988, writer Raymond Carver died of lung cancer at the age of 50 in Port Angeles, Washington.
Carver was part of the Minimalism and “Dirty Realism” movements of literature. His stories were simple like Hemingway’s but as raw and darkly haunting as Kafka’s.
Our favorite collection of poetry by Carver is In Marine Light, which was published in 1988. Oddly enough,...
July 2011
8 posts
“As usual, I began writing from a distance, but “Death of a Traveling Salesman”...”
– Eudora Welty (on writing)
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Stormy Weather : Happy Deathday Ms. Welty!
Hello there, dear readers!
Over the weekend we had some stormy weather and our lines were down! So… we’re playing a bit of catch-up today!
On July 23rd, in 2001, 6-time winner of the O. Henry Award for Short Stories, National Medal for Literature and A1969 Pulitzer Prize winner Eudora Welty died in her Mississippi home at the age of 92.
Welty is ...
“When I cannot see words curling like rings of smoke round me I am in darkness—I...”
– Virginia Woolf
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Happy Deathday Ms. Austen!
On July 18th in 1817, one of England’s best loved female authors died of what is now believed to have been bovine tuberculosis. Her name was Jane Austen.
That very name has become synonymous with nineteenth century realism lit, but would you believe this wonderfully talented writer was hardly considered “one of the greats” until the 1940s - many years after her...
“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or...”
– Oscar Wilde
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Happy Deathday Mr. Hemingway!
On July 2nd, in 1961, American writer Ernest Hemingway was found in his Idaho home, with a self inflicted gunshot wound through the head. He was 61 years old and is remembered today as a brilliant writer, a WWI veteran and an acclaimed journalist.
During the twenties, Hemingway became a member of the group of expatriate Americans in Paris, which greatly influenced his first ...
The Real Shakespeare? →
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