tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28238816.post1028086312917740320..comments2024-02-24T11:28:02.310+00:00Comments on Poetry in Progress: Marion McCreadyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28238816.post-28510505126671712212014-09-18T11:32:18.391+01:002014-09-18T11:32:18.391+01:00thanks Jim :) It is really odd being in touch with...thanks Jim :) It is really odd being in touch with virtually neighboring poets! I never really liked The Bell Jar - as you say it's pretty dated but then I never liked The Catcher and the Rye either which it's often compared to.<br /><br />I don't read much fiction these days but to be able to read a strong female voice in poetry is important to me and I find Sujata Bhatt's work particularly affirming in that it makes me feel that it's valid for me to write about my everyday experiences as a woman / wife / mother etc. Not that that's all women should write about of course!<br /><br />Well the referendum's here at last, I found voting an incredibly emotional experience - all that build up over the last couple of years and esp over the last few months, either way it'll be a relief this time tomorrow to know where we'll stand!Marion McCreadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04657757253873577465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28238816.post-46681362151952457292014-09-15T21:13:09.249+01:002014-09-15T21:13:09.249+01:00Glad to see you’re still with us and ever so busy....Glad to see you’re still with us and ever so busy. A part of me is jealous but the rest of me’s told him to shut up if he knows what’s good for him. Nice that you’ve found a few poetically-inclined neighbours. There’re about 30,000 people in the town where I live now and I don’t know of another single writer. You’d think there’d be more than one but maybe they’re all just as antisocial as me. That said in my hometown I knew of only one other published poet and that was out of 40,000. Four in totie wee Dunoon is really beating the odds.<br /><br />I’ve had a look at your list of female poets. I know most of the names but they’re just names to me. I have been reading a lot more books (and by ‘books’ I mean prose) by women this year—I’m on my fiftieth (and fifty by men as it happens)—and I keep looking for this mysterious ‘female voice’ I keep hearing about but I’m not seeing it. Sure there are books that focus on women’s issues but then I’ve read a few by women where men are the focal point—<i>Old Filth</i> by Jane Gardam and <i>Regeneration</i> by Pat Barker—and you’d swear men were the authors (if you cared about such things which I really don’t). <br /><br />Currently reading <i>The Bell Jar</i>. About halfway through and not especially impressed. It’s very dated which isn’t helping. I get the feeling if I say bad things in a review there’ll be a queue of women outside my door waiting to beat me about the head and neck.<br /><br />I’ve kept my distance from all talk about the forthcoming vote but did think what Eric Idle tweeted earlier today was an interesting take on the subject: “Scottish vote. I find it odd that only one half of a Union gets to vote. Like voting on Divorce but only asking Husbands. Weird.” I wonder what the vote would be if they asked England: Well, DO you want them to leave?Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.com