My book Greedy List
A book-buying binge I’ve had a lovely (generous) book token – a Christmas present from my fellow book-loving mother-in-law – burning a hole through the lining of my wallet and, finally, today, I flipped back to the Greedy List I made when I was shopping for presents before Christmas. I had a sort of one-for-one…
The unfortunate gentleman had expired
…and some ethical dilemmas In my last two posts I introduced you to my explorer great-grandfather, Victor Streich, on whose life story I am working, and I described my growing interest in the amateur online genealogy craze. This third and final post about Victor explains exactly how he got me hooked… The Streichs were already…
The red suitcase
Family history becomes family stories… In my last post I introduced my great-grandfather, Victor Streich, a not-very-well-developed figure in my childhood, who nevertheless was someone I knew I was supposed to feel proud of simply because my mother and grandmother told me he had been famous. Having realised in adulthood that I had been an…
Meet Victor
Part 1 Lower him down, softly there, matey, Though little he’ll heed a rough journey. This is thy last trip, Victor, beneath earth’s surface, And eight unwilling hands are lowering thee.[1] “Victor” was my great-grandfather – Franz Paul Victor Streich. I’m working on a biography of him, and thought I’d introduce him to you. I…
Covid block
It’s hard to read or write at the moment There have been lots of articles and social media posts from avid readers who are finding it difficult, suddenly, to read in these Covid times. This chimed with me. Sophie Vershbow, writing in Vogue in April said “Reading is a primary form of self-care, the thing…
Going again …
I’ve found it harder than I thought I would to write I’m re-launching my neglected blog. Since leaving my job early this year, ostensibly to have more time to write the book I’ve been working on, and return to freelance work to enable me to manage my time better, I’ve found it harder than I…
Analogue note-taking
First published 29 April 2013 A couple of months ago, I shuffled a bit further into the 21st century and got myself an iPad. I’d wanted one for ages, but could never quite justify the outlay. An imminent trip to Australia gave me the excuse…I needed a way of being in touch with my life here that…
Been busy…but must blog better
First published 16 February 2013 I’ve been a bit slack with my blogging lately. Must do better. Meanwhile, the things that are keeping me busy include the two arts boards I’ve joined, at Site Gallery and the Holmfirth Arts Festival. I also recently had a fabulous weekend at a Guardian Masterclass in Feature Writing, and a really interesting day in…
Loving Gladly
First published 26 November 2012 No, this piece isn’t, as the title might suggest, about how we should all embrace our fellow human beings with joy and without reservation, especially at this time of the year; it’s in fact a light-hearted skip through the fun to be had from words seeming to mean something other…
Getting familiar
First published 7 November 2012 To get myself through another period of chronic insomnia, I’ve been re-reading the American essayist Anne Fadiman, because she’s entertaining/popular enough for middle-of-the-night reading, yet a lovely writer with enough rigour to be satisfying. And the essay form doesn’t require the long-term commitment of a novel so if you do…
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Kitty Wright blogging 