Rosemary Tonks, the lost poet

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

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Rosemary Tonks, the lost poet'

Tana French’s ‘The Searcher’ nods to John Ford’s famous Western with the story of a loner on the hunt for a lost teen

An American ex-cop looking to start over in the Irish countryside ends up uncovering a bog’s worth of secrets. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-05 15:08:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #tana french

Watch 'Black Poets in a Time of Unrest' live

L.A. poet laureate Robin Coste Lewis and other poets share experiences and verse with L.A. Times Book Club readers. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-09-24 20:18:48 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #black poets #times book

Booksellers Talk Lost Books, Sex, and Good Business at NAIBA/SIBA Conference

In packed workshop sessions and thematic buzz panels, booksellers and editors were able to rekindle much of the educational reason for attending—and some of the interpersonal reasons as well. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #good business

In ‘Jack,’ Marilynne Robinson’s fourth Gilead novel, a lost soul embarks on an impossible love affair

The story, set in segregated St. Louis, follows a White thief and a Black teacher whose lives intersect. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-21 08:45:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #marilynne robinson #segregated st #black teacher

Westbourne scoops slam poet's 'subversive' collection

The Westbourne Press is to publish Joelle Taylor's poetry collection Cunto and Other Poems next summer.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-18 02:30:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #westbourne press

L.A.'s poet laureate isn't mincing words: 'The world's on fire. We're just trying to survive.'

L.A. poet laureate Robin Coste Lewis joins the L.A. Times Book Club Sept. 24 for Black Poets in a Time of Unrest, an evening of discussion and poetry performances. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-09-17 20:34:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #black poets #times book

All the poets on the longlist for the National Book Award for Poetry are first timers.

And now, it’s the time for the poets! Today, the National Book Foundation announced the longlist for the 2020 National Book Award for Poetry. The National Book Awards, created in 1950, is the most prestigious literary prize in the United States, rewarding bold and cogent writing. According to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-17 14:15:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rewarding bold #cogent writing #press release #literary prize #national book foundation #national book award

Hodder pre-empts 'moving' family memoir The Lost Café Schindler

Hodder & Stoughton has pre-empted a "unique" and "meticulously researched" family memoir, The Lost Café Schindler by Meriel Schindler, centred on a family business and spanning two centuries and two world wars. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-15 04:29:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hodder pre-empts #family memoir #hodder stoughton #hodder #memoir

Firefly poet launches children's competition

A debut poet is encouraging children aged seven to 11 to write poems about their daydreams, for the chance to have theirs printed in his first collection.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-03 17:23:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #write poems

W F Howes scoops 40-year-old 'lost recordings'

W F Howes is to release new audiobook versions of a "cult series of horror-genre" books, using 40-year-old recordings made by their original publisher The Eden Book Society.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-19 10:06:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audiobook versions #original publisher #audiobook

Poets and novelists have been writing about life under COVID-19 for more than a century

From 'islands of pain' to the 'peril of exposure,' writers have captured the fear, emptiness and despair that characterize life during the current pandemic, writes a poet and English scholar. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2020-08-17 12:24:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #current pandemic #novelists

Most slave rebellions are lost to history. This one, remarkably, was documented.

After an archives discovery, Marjoleine Kars tells the story of the 1763 Berbice uprising. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-14 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

The realities of being an Instagram poet

I have been writing poetry most of my life. Encouraged by my English teacher as a child, I used writing as a way of dealing with emotions, anxiety and, as I grew older, with heartbreak. In February 2019, I decided to set up an Instagram page on the advice of a friend, who thought the platform... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-11 19:53:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #writing poetry #instagram poet #english teacher #good place #good fit #written word

Spicer's Lost Dog finds home at Netflix

Netflix has won an auction for screen rights to Lost Dog: A Love Story by journalist Kate Spicer (Ebury). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-04 00:41:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

In ‘Memorial Drive’ a Poet Evokes Her Childhood and Confronts Her Mother’s Murder

The new memoir by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey is an aching investigation of trauma and art. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-07-30 10:06:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memorial drive #memoir

How to write about a 4-year-old poet’s book deal without getting sad.

This is definitely a clickbait title because I don’t really know the answer. In contemplating Nadim Shamma-Sourgen’s recently announced book deal with Walker Books (who will publish a collection of his “astonishing” poetry next summer) I have spent the last 15 minutes of my life cycling through... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-22 15:38:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #walker books #book deal

To Be the Poet of Troy: An Interview with Mosab Abu Toha by Philip Metres

After finding an anthology of English literature in the rubble of the Islamic University of Gaza during the 2014 Israeli bombing, Mosab Abu Toha had a dream: founding an English language library in one of the most confined, crowded, and isolated places in the world. According to the “We Are Not... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-22 08:47:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #philip metres #english literature #anthology

Make sure mid-tier titles aren't lost in packed autumn, Fry warns

Marketing and publicity teams need to make sure their middle-tier titles don't get lost in the crowded autumn, Canongate commercial director Jenny Fry has warned. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-09 17:47:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #publicity teams

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire partners with Women Poets' Prize

The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has partnered with the Women Poets' Prize for the 2020 award, as it launches its second year in action.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-02 02:25:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this |

Poets Call for Change at Poetry Foundation

An open letter to the Poetry Foundation signed by more than 1,800 individuals issued in response to the organization's recent statement on the killing of George Floyd and other current events calls for significant change at the organization, including the resignations of its president and board... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-06-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #significant change #poetry foundation #open letter #george floyd