Once upon a time in the 19th century… Lady Agatha Crumpwhistle is now nearly five. Her devoted nurse, Mrs. Hoggett, has taught her to not make messes and behave nicely and to be respectful of her elders, but there’s a … Continue reading
Category Archives: Education
They’re a stock figure in fiction in and about the 19th century, from Charlotte Bronte to Georgette Heyer, who populated many of her stories with ludicrous examples of them. And though in books they might be either the villainess or … Continue reading
I did promise that this weekend I would write about two leaders, Boudicca and Cleopatra, however I am behind on my research. This is mostly due to the amount of information I’ve run across, and getting sidetracked at online bookstores … Continue reading
Once in a while I find out I’ve missed something important in the book world, some classic that’s been out forever that I somehow never noticed when it was first published, something that turns out to be wonderful. Then once in a very great while I find something I wish I’d read thirty years before it was ever published.
Continue readingI have never understood the praised heaped on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short novel, The Great Gatsby. I wrote about this here some years back. If there is only one “Great American Novel” – a nonsensical idea invented, I suspect, by … Continue reading
This month, I want you to introduce you to something that is not actually in my writing box at all. It has nevertheless fuelled a lot of writing in class. It is also a little topical. I chose this item … Continue reading
This month my teaching box has grown. I’ve moved more items into it and added a hatbox to the hatbox to contain everything. One of the new additions is something I collected on my US book tour, in 2003. I … Continue reading
You ever run into things that you wish you knew? Things you don’t have time to learn, maybe, or that are out of your willingness to run down, or stuff that’s hard to find out? There are many such things … Continue reading
Today I’m going back over fifty years Between cultures, in fiction, in all our lives, childhood can have similarities and differences. Teaching the theory is a wonderful thing, and something I’m prone to. I will teach how to create a … Continue reading
Today’s teaching tool is a simple egg. For a few months, I found goose eggs at the market. They were a joy to cook with and eat, and I blew one to keep to teach with. Simple, really. What’s … Continue reading