Rosemary Tonks was a feted poet, trenchant reviewer and literary socialite. And then she 'disappeared'. Following her death last month, Neil Astley traces her extraordinary storyThe "disappearance" of the poet Rosemary Tonks in the 1970s was one of the literary world's most tantalising mysteries. Bizarre theories abounded as to her whereabouts if she was still alive. As the poet Brian Patten put it in a BBC radio feature about her in 2009, she "evaporated into air like the Cheshire cat". One contributor imagined her living in Cuba, "smoking cigars in a doorway". Other commentators over the years have made her into a nun; consigned her to a sect; had her communing with the ghost of Charles Baudelaire; or put her in a shed at the bottom of someone's garden. For some reason, these mythmakers always required her to be living in poverty.Having tried to visit her myself, 10 years ago, I knew all these theories to be far from the truth. But out of respect for her declared wish, maintained by her family, that she should be left in peace, I kept her address and situation secret. Tonks died last month at the age of 85 (all the existing records had her as four years younger). She had indeed been living as a near-recluse but out of choice, quite comfortable in her circumstances. Even so, she remained restless in spirit, defiantly independent and quite alone in her continuing search for God, for she was ever alert to the "brainwashing", manipulative tendencies in the religious... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with:
#years younger
Chapter with more characters and Quentin Blake illustration deemed 'too wild' for British children appears for first timeA lost chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, deemed too wild, subversive and insufficiently moral for the tender minds of British children almost 50 years ago, has... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#best-loved children
#early drafts
#guardian review
#british children
#chocolate factory
Adi Alsaid has lived something of a nomadic life…which may be one of the reasons he was inspired to write about a road trip in his debut novel, 'Let’s Get Lost.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#road trip
#adi alsaid
Are you out there getting lost on your own? With friends? If so, we’d love to hear—and see—your travels. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#adi alsaid
Popular Scandinavian authors including Jo Nesbø and Stieg Larsson drive growing domestic demand for translated booksBritish readers are devouring foreign fiction in record numbers amid a mini-boom in translated novels, inspired by the success of Scandinavian authors such as Jo Nesbø.Among a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#penguin classics
#jo nesb
Sales of the hundreds of paid-for weekly and monthly titles fell 4.4% compared with previous six months, according to latest healthcheck Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#4% compared
Four stories by children's author Dr Seuss, including early incarnations of Horton and The Grinch, are to be published 60 years after last being seen. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2014-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Bidart, Wolcott, and playwright David Rabe are among the recipients of the 2014 PEN Literary Awards. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
"Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories" by Dr. Seuss will hit bookstores September 9th. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory chose self-published poet Valerie Macon without approval from the North Carolina Arts Council. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
France's literary market has great potential, yet big firms remain reluctant to learn the language of international rights tradingSix thousand languages are spoken worldwide, but few have a market for books. French is the fifth-largest language pool, coming after Chinese, English, Spanish and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-05-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#gained access
#great potential
#global reach
#literary market
Paul Ingram, the legendary book buyer at Prairie Lights in Iowa City, Iowa, since 1989, is joining another elite group: booksellers who are published authors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#published authors
#elite group
#prairie lights
#iowa city
Warsan Shire has been appointed the first young poet laureate for London. The 24-year-old will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#warsan shire
In her memoir, 'Men We Reaped,' Jesmyn Ward writes about her upbringing in a poor Mississippi family and the violent, early deaths of five young men who were close to her.Jesmyn Ward's heart-wrenching new memoir, "Men We Reaped," is a brilliant book about beauty and death. The beauty is in the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#brilliant book
#jesmyn ward
#young men
A new anthology explores the poems and illuminates the personal struggles of the late writer.As busy as Roberto Bolaño's afterlife has been — he's published 19 books in English since his death in 2003 — his time on Earth was even busier. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#roberto bolao
#late writer
The Society of Young Publishers is to publish the poetry of a terminally ill teenager, raising... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#young publishers
#terminal cancer
Library campaigners are forecasting a grim 2013, predicting that 300 libraries could... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#library campaigners
Rosemary Clarke, director of programmes at Booktrust, died last weekend after a short illness.... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#short illness
The media conglomerate, which plans to separate its entertainment businesses from its publishing businesses into two separate listed stocks next year, said the publishing company would have reported a net loss of $2.08 billion in the year through June 30 if it had been a stand-alone company. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-12-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#net loss
#publishing businesses
#entertainment businesses
#media conglomerate
A ballet based on fairy tale Rapunzel, written by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, is to tour the UK after premiering at the Durham Book Festival in October. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2012-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ballet based
#tour uk
American author Jack Kerouac's first ever novel, which was thought to be lost, has been published 40 years after his death. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book published