What Measure?

by William Spell What measure of my life do I impart? What legacy is left when I depart? Some men claim glorious deeds to their name; Some say uplifting words will bring them fame. Of words and deeds I could securely boast, But 'tis not these you should remember most. Some build a fortune, accumulate … Continue reading What Measure? →

4 Critical Texts for Writers

Often on social media and websites for writers I see questions asking how a particular narrative technique could or should be used. Sometimes a writer will ask what is a given technique called. Most writers learn their craft intuitively from their own reading and have no need to be familiar with critical terms nor or … Continue reading 4 Critical Texts for Writers →

Let Me Not Lament

Let me not lament The words that went unwrit, Unwhispered as between two lovers In the hushed dawn of a new day, In the pregnant cumulous of a summer's afternoon, In evening's anticipation of cresting hours That rise and fall. Here: Through the window of time You might still see me Passing by and Hear: … Continue reading Let Me Not Lament →

Love Is Not Lost

By William Spell Love is not lost The way keys are lost, Leaving you unable to unlock doors Or lock the one behind you. Love is not lost The way your phone is lost Needing another to make it ring So it will reveal its hiding place. Love is not lost The way your glasses … Continue reading Love Is Not Lost →

This Is a True Story

Now all we have to do is figure out what the truth is. Sherlock Holmes was a detective living at 221B Baker Street, London. Only there was no Sherlock Holmes and a bank has always been at that address. The statement is nonfactual. Except in The Hound of the Baskervilles written by Arthur Conan Doyle … Continue reading This Is a True Story →

Currently Reading 11/17/2021

Two by German writer W.G. Sebald , The Emigrants and Austerlitz, in connection with another project. I'm taking advantage of the newly released Sebald biography, Speak, Silence (Is that a great title or what?) by Carole Angier to try and make some determination of where Sebald's work, called a "new genre" between fiction and nonfiction, … Continue reading Currently Reading 11/17/2021 →

Life & Lit Facebook Page

To keep up with the world of books and publishing, like Life and Literature's Facebook page. An example of my Facebook content from this week: Arts & Culture takes a close look at the Booker Prize shortlist. From NPR: Penguin Random House stopped from purchasing Simon & Schuster. Merger would turn Big 5 into Big … Continue reading Life & Lit Facebook Page →

The Saturday Review of Literature

Every Friday afternoon one of my class periods at Hammond High School in Alexandria, Virginia in the late 1960's was led single file into the school library for an hour to check out books for book reports or papers or pleasure. Hammond High is most known today as the school that merged into T.C. Williams. … Continue reading The Saturday Review of Literature →

Felix Requiem

by William Spell Jr. You, curiously curled beneath the dirt I scratched, silent and still, never to flirtAround my ankles in that sidewise walk,Those figure eights beneath my skirt. What great negation sneaked from out the bright?Crouched, waited for the right, oh just the rightTime within time to begin its sly stalk,Pounced, sharp, cold as a … Continue reading Felix Requiem →

Big Bang

By William Spell We are made of the same stuff, You and I. Not of common stardust as all are, As all things are, As bark, fur, the air Surrounding Earth, As the insides of things, As agate, newborn seeds, beating hearts are. If a universe is born in a big bang and Nothing can … Continue reading Big Bang →

Currently Reading 8/9/21

I sometimes prefer the company of women. Actually I often prefer the company of women. So it happens that all my current reading is from female writers. Jane Alison is my new favorite writer. I discovered Meander, Spiral, Explode two years ago right before it was published while researching new formalist literary criticism. After publishing … Continue reading Currently Reading 8/9/21 →

The New Aesthetics: New Formalist Literary Theory

by William Spell Jr. "Form and function are a unity, two sides of one coin. In order to enhance function, appropriate form must exist or be created."--Ida Pauline Rolf The history of literary theory consists of formalism and something that is not formalism in alternating cycles-circles-for throughout history. Now formalism swings around in the timeline … Continue reading The New Aesthetics: New Formalist Literary Theory →

Gazing at Aphrodite

by William Spell Jr. Love and your iris inspired me to rise Above the entablature of your face, Into a realm of eternal pink skies On immortal wings of Beauty and Grace. O'er pedestals, statues, and temples Greek, Borne pure, without lust or depravity, Soared I. Soul's bareness is what I did seek; Your gaze … Continue reading Gazing at Aphrodite →

Love Overflowed

by William Spell Jr. Love filled me up, and overflowed, Then spilled right out of me. From where it poured, a new love showed, And swelled, then, too, streamed free. In its devotion does prevail Divine cupidity: To dam, to shore, to steer, to sail Love's warm fluidity. No moored or anchored berth I find; … Continue reading Love Overflowed →

New Formalism 1: The Pendulum Swings

A new candidate for prevailing literary theory has emerged during the last fifteen or twenty years. A popular work published in March of 2019 has pushed that literary theory further out into the reading public and teaching professions. Jane Alison’s Meander, Spiral, Explode, proposes a return to form as a vehicle for creating fiction. Not … Continue reading New Formalism 1: The Pendulum Swings →

“City Skyline” at the Arts Center

"City Skyline", my composite photograph of the Jackson, Mississippi skyline, is on display at the Arts Center in downtown Jackson. Submitted in the Sky Through My Eye photo contest, "City Skyline" hangs alongside other entrants through the end of February. Composed of three sections, "City Skyline" contains elements from buildings impossible to see from a … Continue reading “City Skyline” at the Arts Center →

A Guide to Book Bestseller Lists

In the publishing industry, and among the reading public, bestseller lists are the movie equivalent of box office receipts. One major difference, other than the type of media, is that with box office receipts, anyone can pretty much see the numbers, but with bestseller lists, the actual numbers of books sold (and revenues earned) is … Continue reading A Guide to Book Bestseller Lists →