Tuesday, August 13, 2019

A Resource for Fiction Writers and Poets: “The Art of the Essay” – What?


I’ve found a new resource for fiction writers and poets. 

In The Art of the Essay: From Ordinary Life to Extraordinary WordsCharity Singleton Craig quotes Wendell Berry on writing. Berry is a poet, essayist, novelist, speaker, and, some would say, philosopher. I’ve read his poetry, several of his novels and short stories, and many of his articles, especially those on agriculture and farming. Throughout all of his writing, Berry is consistent, articulating a worldview of community and faith, and redemption and restoration.

Craig highlights Berry’s concerns about the loss of meaningful language, citing an essay he wrote as far back as 1979. Berry argues that the loss of meaningful language parallels the disintegration of community, and the only way to restore language is to choose words from “community speech.” Part of that restoration process is to “dismiss generalities because rarely is something all bad or all good.”

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

No comments: