On Translating Proust and the Art of Not Reading Ahead
“It is a bummer to me that Proust occupies such a rarefied, even elitist, realm in the culture.”
https://lithub.com/on-translating-proust-and-the-art-of-not-reading-ahead/
Marcel Proust (who was also a translator himself) at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/987
The reason, gin ye waant the truth,
I sleep like this – ma gairdie stieve
upon yer breist, its steekit nieve
laid on yer sma’ hert like an aith –
is no’ for waarmth or peace o’ mind
but that in ma dreams, ma dou,
I’m staunin here upricht, wi’ you
the lang sheld that I grue ahind.
—Don Paterson, “The Human Sheld”
published in RAIN (Faber 2010)
https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571251742-rain/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Scotslanguage #Scots #Scotstober
"Of the life of Benjamin Button between his twelfth and twenty-first year I intend to say little. Suffice to record that they were years of normal ungrowth."
#OTD in 1922.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is published in The Smart Set magazine. It was subsequently anthologized in Fitzgerald's 1922 book Tales of the Jazz Age.
Tales of the Jazz Age at PG:
https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/6695
Daith an’ dule will stab ye surely,
Be ye man or wife,
Mony trauchles an’ mischances
In ilk weird are rife;
Bide the storm ye canna hinder,
Mindin’ through the strife,
Hoo the luntin’ lowe o’ beauty
Lichts the grey o’ life.
—Helen Cruickshank, “Sea Buckthorn”
published in A KIST O SKINKLAN THINGS (ASL, 2017)
https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/a-kist-o-skinlan-things/
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #20thcentury #Scots #Scotslanguage #Scotstober
CFP: 18th International Conference on Medieval & Renaissance Scottish Language, Literature, & Culture
1–4 July, University of Bristol, UK
Proposals for papers invited that discuss any aspects of medieval & renaissance Scottish language, literature, & culture, & papers that reflect on these fields from different time periods, languages, & places
@litstudies
Deadline: 14 Nov 2025
https://icmrsllc2026.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/call-for-papers/
#Scottish #literature #language #Scotslanguage #Gaeilc #Gaidhlig #medieval #renaissance
And by the halie tree
In the leaman licht o the wuid,
Squired by a houlet, a hawk and a doo,
Wes his Euridikee…
—“Orpheus”, by Tom Scott (1918–1995)
from A KIST O SKINKLAN THINGS
https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/volumes/a-kist-o-skinlan-things/
#Scottish #literature #Scotstober #poem #poetry #Scots #Scotslanguage
Du gies hooseroom tae a swap o scarfs,
lodgins ta mallies. A shjalder swanks
apo dy shooder…
—Christine De Luca, “Growin Auld (Wasterwick)”
published in WAST WI DA VALKYRIES (Shetland Library, 1997)
https://www.christinedeluca.co.uk/pages/wast_wi_da_valkyries
#Scottish #literature #Scotstober #poem #poetry #Shetland #Shetlandic #Scots #Scotslanguage
Clytemnestra, in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, and the half-sister of Helen of Troy.
In Aeschylus' Oresteia, she murders Agamemnon – said by Euripides to be her second husband – and the Trojan princess Cassandra, whom Agamemnon had taken as a war prize following the sack of Troy; however, in Homer's Odyssey, her role in Agamemnon's death is unclear and her character is significantly more subdued.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14417
“Connection reaches into Rodge’s work not just as a responsibility, but through his writing method as well”
SNACK Magazine speaks to Rodge Glass about moving to Glasgow, first meeting Alasdair Gray, & his latest book Joshua in the Sky: A Blood Memoir
In conversation with Sara Sheridan, Damian Barr discusses his novel THE TWO ROBERTS, which reimagines the lives of Scottish artists Robert MacBryde & Robert Colquhoun. Recorded at the National Galleries on 7 October 2025
Remediating Stevenson: Reframing perspectives through graphic novels
29 Oct, free online
The online launch & celebration of three new graphic novels inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s South Sea Tales: “The Bottle Imp”, “The Isle of Voices” & “The Beach of Falesá”. The event is aimed at upper primary & secondary teachers with an interest in English, Literacy & Art.
#Scottish #literature #RobertLouisStevenson #decolonial #Pacific #graphicnovels #comics #schools
Hi #Bookstodon!
What’s a book that shaped your life? I’ll start, “Anarcho-syndicalism: Theory and Practice.” Now it’s your turn, reply with yours!
Book link: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/rudolf-rocker-anarchosyndicalism
#AmReading #BookRecommendations #CurrentlyReading #NonFiction #Fiction #Literature #History #Anarchism #Syndicalism #Socialism #Communism #BookClub #TBR #ReadingList
"The spirit of truth and the spirit of freedom — these are the pillars of society."
The Pillars of Society
Norwegian Dramatist & Poet Henrik Ibsen died #OTD in 1906.
Ibsen is renowned for his pioneering work in realism, a movement in theater that sought to depict everyday life & societal issues with honesty and accuracy. He moved away from the romanticized and melodramatic styles that dominated the 19th century.
Books by Henrik Ibsen at PG
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/861
American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement Margaret Fuller was born #OTD in 1810.
She was the first American female war correspondent and full-time book reviewer in journalism. Her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century is considered the first major feminist work in the United States.
Books by Margaret Fuller at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2829
Digesting Dante
Dante’s success was far from guaranteed.
by Richard Hughes Gibson
https://hedgehogreview.com/issues/lessons-of-babel/articles/digesting-dante
Dante at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/507
What War of the Worlds did
The uncanny realism of Orson Welles’s radio play crystallised a fear of communication technology that haunts us today
by Benjamin Naddaff-Hafrey
Wake Up, Rip Van Winkle
Washington Irving’s story isn’t just about a very long nap. It’s about the making of America.
By John Swansburg
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/11/rip-van-winkle-founding-folktale/684333/
Rip Van Winkle at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60976
Portuguese writer Camilo Castelo Branco died #OTD in 1890.
One of his most famous novels is "Amor de Perdição", a tragic love story that is often compared to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Camilo Castelo Branco's life was marked by personal and professional challenges, including periods of financial difficulty, imprisonment, and ill health, yet he remained a central figure in Portuguese literary circles.
Books by Camilo Castelo Branco at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/6699
English author, philosopher, literary and art critic G. K. Chesterton was born #OTD in 1874.
Chesterton created the character Father Brown, a Catholic priest and amateur detective. The first collection, "The Innocence of Father Brown," was published in 1911. His most famous novel is "The Man Who Was Thursday" (1908), a metaphysical thriller that explores themes of anarchy and order.
Books by G. K. Chesterton at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/80
Smoky sky.
In autumn wind
I stroll by the quays
in the last light…
—Edwin Morgan, “Je ne regrette rien: in memory of Edith Piaf”
first published in THE SECOND LIFE (EUP, 1968); republished in COLLECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 2012)
Edith Piaf died #OTD, 10 October, 1963
https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781857541885
"At times it has been doubtful to me if Emerson really knows or feels what Poetry is at its highest, as in the Bible, for instance, or Homer or Shakspeare. I see he covertly or plainly likes best superb verbal polish, or something old or odd."
Democratic Vistas: And Other Papers (ed. 1888)
~Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892)
Books by Walt Whitman at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/600
Fossil hunter, folklorist, evangelist, stonemason, editor, social justice campaigner, & geologist, Hugh Miller (1802–1856) – born #OTD, 10 Oct – should be remembered in the company of Carlyle, Ruskin, Matthew Arnold & JS Mill as one of the leading moral & social thinkers of the 19th century
A 🎂🧵
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#Scottish #literature #19thcentury #Victorian #geology #fossil #fossilfriday #folklore
读过 Step Aside, Pops 🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑
比 Hark! A Vagrant 先看这本的原因是底下的作者注释比较少，嗯，跟作者电波不合，不大笑得出来，不就是塞点私货到历史人物口里吗？恶搞得不刁钻，punchline 也不犀利，还是 pbf 那些够狠够疯癫。
Happy World Porridge Day to all who celebrate! 🥣
Captain of oats, braw brose, fine gruel,
you are thi Scotsman’s constant fuel
fae New Year’s Dey till end o Yule
(we don’t do Simmer):
oan ilka morn ye bring renewal,
thi stomach’s zimmer…
—WN Herbert, “To Porridge”
published in OMNESIA (Bloodaxe Books, 2013)
https://poetryinternationalweb.org/pi/site/poem/item/22732/auto/0/TO-PORRIDGE
#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #porridge #WorldPorridgeDay
What Scotsman was caught up in a civil war before the age of twenty? Wrote a book that became the inspiration for an Oscar-winning film? Met a runaway teenager in Paris and married her against the wishes of his family? Lost his ranch to raiding Apaches?
Buckle up – it’s going to be a long, wild #Scottish #literature 🧵 …
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