"Books and authors"

 "Books and authors" is a podcast where the host invites authors or specialists to discuss their recent reads, favourite books or simply talk about what's happening in the world of literature. In this episode they talked about a new book by Ruth Ware - "The lying game", but also (what interested me the most)they talked about Virginia Woolf's work as a publisher and independent writer which interested me because I'm eager to read her novels. Later on they discussed why "Master and Margarita" by Bulchakov is considered to be such a genius novel. I read it two years ago and it still remains one of the best books I have ever read. At the end of the podcast they also mentioned a book called "Madame Bovary of the suburbs" which is a direct reference to a classic - "Madame Bovary". The people invited to the studio shared their thoughts and opinions on these books and authors.
 I enjoyed listening to them talking about literature because it seemed so vivid and passionate and encouraged me to look for some new, interesting books to read. I especially liked what Mark Haddon said about Virginia Woolf's books. He said that her books are like his closest friends. Every time he enters Woolf's book again they both still have some new stories to tell and there's always something fresh about them.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p056r8jq

The women who covered Vietnam

                 Forgotten female war correspondets

I've read an article about female war journalists and photographers from the Vietnam War that have been forgotten for many years. Now their stories are  brought back to life. In the article they mention for example how hard it was for them be heard and apprieciated. During that time it wasn't uncommon that the observations those women made were stolen later on by some other journalists and their work seemed to be completely underestimated and pointless. Now it's time their stories will be heard all around the world. In 2018 the production of the upcoming film "On the other side" will begin. The movie will tell the story of a war correspondent, Kate Webb.

I'm very curious about the stories of these women because I think they will be very interesting and moving and I hope they will influence the way we think about the different roles that women get to play in our society. I'm looking forward to find out more about this topic.



 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/opinion/women-journalists-vietnam.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fopinion&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront

"Comedy of the Week"

        Mae Martin about addiction

I've listened to an episode of "Comedy of the week" about addiction. The topic was presented by a stand-up comedian - Mae Martin. She explained trough her own experience when habits become obsessions and later on addictions and why people tend to be addicted to so many things. She said that addiction means nothing else but compulsive pleasure seeking that has a negative impact on us. Which means that it doesn't always have to be extreme like being addicted to drugs or alcohol, but for example it might mean being addicted to a certain person, film, book, topic etc. Addiction is a very natural human's impulse. We seek something that could reduce our stress and that's one reason why we get addicted to so many things.

I've really  enjoyed listening to this podcast not only because it was very interesting and informative but mostly because it was very funny. I loved the way she was talking about her experiences and it was very hard not to laugh at loud when listening to her speaking. (which might be problematic when you're in a crowded bus). I'm looking forward to next episodes of her series.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05ly7gy

Getting Better Acquainted with Words

In the next episode of " The Invisible College" that I've listened to they talked about how the art of stringing words together is important if you want your piece of writing to be vivid and vibrant. There was feautered a lecture given by Ted Hughes (a british poet)in early 60s in which he explained to students that a good piece of writing is "an assembly of living parts". By living parts he meant the words, the images and the rhytms. He was convinced that if any of these parts are dead a poem or any other piece of writing won't be vivid.  There were also featured speeches given by, for example Charles Bukowski and  Virginia Woolf.

These creative writing lessons are truly interesting to me and I feel that I'm learning a lot from them. I especially liked what Ted Hughes said about the words being alive. He explained that the words that are alive are the words that can be heard, felt, smelled etc. when you read them. And I think that one of the most difficult things to achieve when you're writing something is making the words mean something more than just letters written on paper.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p053dyjg