Eggplant.place

87d

R.K. Hegelman on Fernando Pessoa, “an extreme and singular figure in a modern poetic tradition that views poems not just as texts, but as gnostic vehicles of self-annihilation and worldly renovation.”

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/1816395/i-multiplied-myself-to-feel-myself?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01M07W8MNQ2W0QED5E79D708K8&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER

Books by Fernando Pessoa at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/9005

#books #literature #poetry

Photograph of Fernando Pessoa.

Pessoa is shown wearing round wire-framed glasses, a mustache, a fedora hat, and a suit with a tie.

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106d

At some point, people who've never used #AI will be like that guy running the clandestine Bradbury Building lab in the original 'Blade Runner'

sought after, then...

#ai #science #scifi #literature #movies

Edited 106d ago

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87d

Val McDermid, queen of crime writing
The Royal Literary Fund podcast

The internationally acclaimed author of more than 40 books joins fellow crime writer & band mate Doug Johnstone to discuss: how the publishing industry has changed; the novel she had to run away to write; becoming lead singer of The Fun Lovin' Crime Writers in her sixties; & why she’s having more fun with more genres than ever.

@bookstodon

https://podcast.rlf.org.uk/513-val-mcdermid-queen-of-crime-writing

#Scottish #literature #ValMcDermid #crimefiction

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87d

What do we sense on the moor but ghost folk,
ghost deer, even ghost wolf. The path itself is a
phantom, almost erased in ling and yellow tormentil:
flowers of this summer and this summer only…

—Kathleen Jamie, “Moor”
from CAIRN (Sort of Books, 2024)

https://sortof.co.uk/kathleen-jamie-cairn

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #naturewriting #naturepoetry

Moor
Kathleen Jamie

What do we sense on the moor but ghost folk,
ghost deer, even ghost wolf. The path itself is a
phantom, almost erased in ling and yellow tormentil:
flowers of this summer and this summer only,
even as they flourish they’re passing into memory,
already bequeathing themselves –

The moor in summer dreams itself out of all
previous summers. Bog-cotton, the green fritillary,
the fly-catching sundew … likewise the larksong,
all iterated as though for the first time.

It is their first time! And every time before.

We bring the past out of the land and bear the land
into the future, but at heart of all is the land, contested,
exploited and beloved. (The turbines, plantations, the
missile-test sites.) We pass and fade on the face of the
earth, sun-nets drifting over distant hillsides, the cloud
shadows. We become the half-sensed ghosts.

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102d

Beatrix Potter's 160 years of Lake District legacy

For many readers, Beatrix Potter's classic children's books provide their very first introduction to this iconic landscape. Marking 160 years since her birth, her enduring legacy in her beloved Cumbria continues to be celebrated.

by Federica Bedendo, Mike Zeller, and Joshua Steer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crk52ln0k87o

Books by Beatrix Potter at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/292

#books #literature

Beatrix Potter in 1913.

This is a photograph of author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, shown standing outside near a stone doorway and window, dressed in a long dark skirt, jacket, and holding a wide-brimmed hat in her hands.

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102d

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s Blue House in Coyoacán Was a Refuge for Leon Trotsky... Until It Wasn‘t

H. Keith Melton and Nigel West on Trotsky and Kahlo‘s Simmering Affair Amidst Political Turmoil

https://lithub.com/frida-kahlo-and-diego-riveras-blue-house-in-coyoacan-was-a-refuge-for-leon-trotsky-until-it-wasnt/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01KYYNM4RNPMRWKEC9QGHMW3GV&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER

#books #literature #history

Kahlo with husband Diego Rivera in 1932

by Carl Van Vechten

Kahlo is shown wearing a chunky beaded necklace and traditional-style dress, while Rivera stands beside her smiling, dressed in a dark suit.

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87d

“For me the political & the personal are not separate, & so I write that way because it’s how I honestly experience the world. Combining the two is a refusal to flatten either.”

—Hannah Lavery talks to SNACK Magazine about her latest poetry collection, EVERYTHING EVERYDAY: A Year of Empty Promises

https://snackmag.co.uk/interview-hannah-lavery-explores-grief-hope-and-everything-everyday-at-the-edinburgh-international-book-festival

#Scottish #literature #poetry

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102d

The hill is tossing high, frail wisps of
rosy cloud to glide in steady gale
along a turquoise sky, around, above the
perpendicular and slightly askew columns,
above the triangular gap
between crown and crag…

—Tessa Ransford, “August 3rd”
published in Shadows from the Greater Hill (Ramsay Head Press, 1987)

https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/august-3rd/

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #naturepoem #naturewriting

August 3rd
Tessa Ransford

The hill is tossing high, frail wisps of
rosy cloud to glide in steady gale
along a turquoise sky, around, above the
perpendicular and slightly askew columns,
above the triangular gap
between crown and crag.

The moon, full at midnight,
is now high and faded
almost a lazy eyelid:
day’s eye opening
or night’s eye closing.

Birds chase and ride the wind
reeling, wheeling,
aware that in a moment
ordinary flight of day will have to be resumed.

The hawk alone is steady,
keeps position despite the gale
to pinpoint a victim

and far below
grasses tinge in flower:
harebell, yarrow, lady’s yellow bedstraw
Among the rangy thistles and fatted doves.

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102d

Oidhche nam Bàrd – Poetry in Art & Sound
10 September, Tramway, Glasgow. £20/£12

Sàbhail an ceann-là airson Oidhche nam Bàrd – Poetry in Art & Sound, comharrachadh nàiseanta air còrr agus 1000 bliadhna de bhàrdachd Ghàidhlig.

A landmark celebration of over 1000 years of Gaelic poetry.

https://www.tramway.org/event/92566702-3c0b-4861-b502-b44e01077967/

#Scottish #literature #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #poetry

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102d

5 Timeless Historical Fiction Books to Read After the ‘Odyssey’

These classic tales of fictionalized history are able to stand the test of time.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/literature/books/timeless-historical-fiction-books-read-odyssey?utm_source=RSS

"A Tale of Two Cities"

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/98

"Les Misérables"

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/135

"War and Peace"

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2600

#books #literature

This illustration by François-Louis Schmied was created for Homer's "Odyssey." It shows Odysseus meeting the Phaeacian princess Nausicaa on the shore of Scheria. Odysseus is naked and kneeling, holding an olive branch in his right hand and raising his left hand. Nausicaa stands in the center with a tall staff or walking spear. She appears unafraid of Odysseus, while three of her maids stand close behind her.

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132d

A Brief Survey of the Great American Novel(s)

Do We Need The G.A.N.? Why Do We Keep Looking?

by Emily Temple (from the archives)

https://lithub.com/a-brief-survey-of-great-american-novels/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01KW6WGJJBBH0691QDA4S4WTD9&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER

American novels at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=american+novels

#books #literature

The title page of "The Great American Novel" by William Carlos Williams, published in Paris by Three Mountains Press in 1923, featuring simple typography and a small decorative publisher's emblem at the center.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63888

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The title page of "Studies in Classic American Literature" by D.H. Lawrence, published in New York by Thomas Seltzer in 1923, featuring clean minimal typography and a small triangular publisher's emblem at the center.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/60547/60547-h/60547-h.htm

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88d

Nothing is Boring. Arnold Bennett's Self Help

And reading advice from John Stuart Mill

by Henry Oliver

https://www.commonreader.co.uk/p/nothing-is-boring-arnold-bennetts

Books by Arnold Bennett (including How to Live on 24 Hours a Day) at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/859

#books #literature #literaryCriticism

Bennett in 1928.

He is shown seated in what appears to be a study or office, wearing a suit with a mustache, hands clasped in his lap, with a desk covered in papers to his left.

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88d

Library ‘illuminates’ art of calligraphy at downtown branch

Spokane Public Library is celebrating the art of lettering with local author and illustrator Karyn Jeffrey.

By Rachel Baker

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/aug/17/library-illuminates-art-of-calligraphy-at-downtown/

Books about Calligraphy at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/39737

#books #literature #calligraphy

Writing & Illuminating, & Lettering

Author: Edward Johnston

Contributor: A. E. R. Gill

Illustrator: Noel Rooke

This is a calligraphy instructional diagram, showing pen angle technique and letterforms for a broad-edge/straight pen script.

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59d

Is Edward Gibbon Still Accurate on the Fall of Rome?

Edward Gibbon published his iconic history in 1776, but what do modern archaeologists and historians think of his core thesis on Rome's collapse.

https://www.thecollector.com/is-edward-gibbon-still-accurate-fall-of-rome/

#books #literature #RomanHistory

This photo captures the Colosseum in Rome from a low, close-up angle. You can see its weathered stone arches, with blue sky and white clouds above.

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101d

Marvelous Marbled Paper

What is marbling? Marbling involves floating paints or pigments on a liquid bath and moving the paint around to create designs before laying down paper to pick up the patterns.

by Allison Rein

https://www.aip.org/library/ex-libris-universum/marvelous-marbled-paper?mcid=81301bd1cc&utm_source=AIP_newsletter&utm_source=email

#books #literature #MarbledMonday

Endpaper from a book published in Scotland in 1842. Encyclopedia Britannica 7th edition.

A traditional marbled paper, featuring swirling patterns of red, gold, dark green, and blue-gray with white speckled dots throughout, created using the technique of floating colored inks/paints on water and transferring the pattern to paper.

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101d

Jules Verne’s Empty Dream of Spaceflight

In “From the Earth to the Moon,” scientific advancement is treated as destiny — but no one quite asks why.

By: Malka Older

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/jules-vernes-empty-dream-of-spaceflight/

From the Earth to the Moon at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/83

#books #literature #ScienceFiction

An original illustration by Henri de Montaut from the 1868 edition of Jules Verne’s “From the Earth to the Moon."

Illustration depicting a segmented, cylindrical spacecraft/projectile traveling through starry space toward the Moon, which looms large in the upper left with detailed craters visible.

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88d

Let us now give thanks
for these salt-blown

wind-burned pastures
where oatgrass and timothy
shrink from the harrow of the sea…

—John Glenday, “A Westray Prayer”
published in SELECTED POEMS (Picador 2020)

https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/john-glenday/selected-poems/9781529037715

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Westray #Orkney

John Glenday
A Westray Prayer

in memoriam Mike and Barbara Heasman

Let us now give thanks
for these salt-blown

wind-burned pastures
where oatgrass and timothy
shrink from the harrow of the sea

where Scotland at long last
wearies of muttering its own name
where we may begin

to believe we have always known
what someone in his wisdom
must have meant

when he gave us everything
and told us nothing.

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87d

NAMING THE SNAKES: New Writing Scotland 44
Glasgow launch
8 September, Waterstones Sauchiehall St, Glasgow – £5 / £12 with book

Celebrate the latest issue of NEW WRITING SCOTLAND with a mix of readings of poetry, short fiction & non-fiction in English, Gaelic & Scots – all welcome!

https://www.waterstones.com/events/new-writing-scotland-44-launch/glasgow-sauchiehall-street

#Scottish #literature #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #Scots #Scotslanguage #poetry #shortfiction #newwriting #booklaunch #Glasgow

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101d

Ernest Hemingway’s Personal Library Contained Thousands of Books—Here Are Some of the Authors

From Shakespeare to Virginia Woolf, these are just a few of the legendary writers that lined Hemingway's bookshelves.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/literature/authors/ernest-hemingway-personal-library-books?utm_source=RSS

All of these authors are at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/

#books #literature

This photo shows Ernest Hemingway in 1950. He appears older, with short gray hair and a white beard and mustache. A curved scar or scratch is visible on his forehead. He is dressed in a dark shirt and a burgundy vest or jacket.

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134d

Celebrating 250 Years of the USA

To honor the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, The History Reader has put together a list of top Revolutionary War-era books published over the last two decades.

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/us-history/celebrating-250-years-of-the-usa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=celebrating-250-years-of-the-usa

#books #literature #USHistory

An American flag at the top of a flagpole. The camera is looking up towards the flag which is blowing in the breeze. There is a blue sky around it.

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136d

Browse 5.8 million works of art at the Last Museum

by Rob Beschizza

https://boingboing.net/2026/06/29/browse-5-8-million-works-of-art-at-the-last-museum.html

Last Museum:
https://lastmuseum.com/

Books in Art at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/11

#books #literature #art #culture

"The Voyage of Life: Youth" painted by Thomas Cole in 1842.

A romantic landscape painting by Thomas Cole depicting a young man in a golden boat steering eagerly toward an ethereal, glowing palace in the distant clouds, while a guardian angel stands on the riverbank gesturing toward the heavens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_Life#/media/File:Thomas_Cole_-_The_Ages_of_Life_-_Youth_-_WGA05140.jpg

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101d

It gets late early out here
in the lacklustre places,
wind in the trees and the foodstalls’
ricepaper lamplight, fading and blurred with rain…

—John Burnside, “Travelling South, Scotland, August 2012”
published in BLACK MIDDENS: New Writing Scotland 31 (ASL, 2013)

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #naturewriting #naturepoetry #JohnBurnside

John Burnside
Travelling South, Scotland, August 2012

“Necessity is not the mother of invention; play is”
—Ian D. Suttie

It gets late early out here
in the lacklustre places,
wind in the trees & the foodstalls’
ricepaper lamplight, fading & blurred with rain,
the wire fence studded with fleece
& indelible traces
of polythene wrapping; marrowfat clogging the drains
on the road that runs out to the coast
then disappears.
A last bleed of gold in the west, like a Shan Shui painting,
then darkness.

The animals are gone
that hunted here:
wolves coming down from the hills, that
immaculate hunger,
rumours of bear & cat, quick
martens & raptors.
The rain is darker now,
though not so black,
oil-iridescent, streaked with the smell of lard
– it gets late early out here; though late, out here,
has a different meaning:

stars in the road
& the absence of something more
than birchwoods or song,
pallet fires, tyre-tracks,
grubbed fields clouded with grease
& palm oil, hints
of molasses and lanolin, tarpaper,
iron filings.
A narrow band of weather on the road,
then houses; though we scarcely think of them
as that.

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I remember a meadow at dusk
in another rain
(and this is nostalgia now); I remember
I stood in a wind like gossamer and watched
three roe fawns and a doe
come quietly, one by one, through the silvering grasses,
wary, but curious, giving me just enough space
to feel safe,
their watchfulness reminding me of something
lost, a creaturely
awareness I could only glimpse

in passing.
That meadow is gone, and dusk
isn’t dusk any more
– or not out here –
just miles of tract and lay-by on the way
to junkyards and dead allotments,
guard dogs on tether,
biomass, factory outlets,
the half-light of ersatz dairies petering out
on rotting fields
of rape and mustardseed.

We’ve been going at this for years:
a steady delete
of anything that tells us what we are,
a long
distaste for the blood warmth and bloom
of the creaturely: local
fauna and words for colour, all the shapes
of ritual and lust
surrendered where they fell, beneath a fog
of smut and grime and counting-house
as church, the old gods

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buried undead beneath the rural sprawl
that bears their names, or wandering the hills
of Lammermuir and Whitelee, waiting out
the rule of Mammon, till the land returns
– with or without us –
chainlink going down
to bindweed, drunken
thistles in a sway
of wind and goldfinch on the dead estates, fat
clusters of moss
and gentian, broken

tarmac with new shoots
of coltsfoot breaking through
like velvet, till the darkness of the leaf
unfurls into a light we could have known
but failed to see
by choosing not to find
the kingdom-at-hand:
this order;
this dialectic;
this mother of invention,
ceaseless play.

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88d

Six Must-Read Scottish Books

Author Doug Johnstone picks six books that speak to the diversity & range of Scottish fiction

@bookstodon

https://orendabooks.co.uk/news/six-must-read-scottish-books-by-doug-johnstone

#Scottish #literature #fiction #novel #novels

Against a dark, misty street scene – author Doug Johnstone stands on the left, beside the cover of his latest novel GHOST NOTES

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101d

Commonwealth of Nations Poet Laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh & Scotland’s Makar Peter Mackay in Conversation

Selina & Peter’s wide-ranging conversation begins with Selina reading her poem “Tusitala”, & a discussion of where her middle name comes from

https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/selina-tusitala-marsh-commonwealth-poet-laureate-and-peter-mackay-scottish-makar-in-conversation/

#Scottish #literature #Aotearoa #NewZealand #poetry #podcast

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88d

Henry Raeburn’s portrait of Robert Burns had been missing for more than 200 years until it was discovered during a house clearance & sold at auction in 2025. It is on display in the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway until 1 November – free, no booking required

https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/burns-portrait-returns-to-poets-birthplace

#Scottish #literature #RobertBurns #romanticism #portrait #painting #visualart #18thcentury #19thcentury #Raeburn #HenryRaeburn

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