Sometimes we get stuck and seek solace from our literary heroes. I have many such heroes but Russian poet Anna Akhmatova is my queen of inspiration, beauty, and endurance.
I have this postcard of a 1922 portrait of her on my desk:
Who inspires you? Please share!We’d love to know …
I look to visuals, paintings or photography of the period, to help me enter the world I am writing about. Pinterest has been a treasure trove of images that have grounded me in the 19th century.
As to literary inspiration, I look to writers who have lyrical narrative styles. Their words open me to looking at the world from a different perspective. The most recent of these is Crystal Wilkinson who has a poet's heart and it beats within the prose of her narratives. "Imagine yourself a woman who gathers stories in her apron" or "Memory reached out, swirled around her head, and pounded like a fist." or "Her mother, deep, deep, brown with a bit of Europe dancing in her face--the elongated nose, pointy chin, and thin lips." or "In her mind, voices rise up, voices of women telling their own stories, even when she tries to speak out loud over those kitchen ghosts." or "Mama gone, Granny gone, roots still here."
I look to visuals, paintings or photography of the period, to help me enter the world I am writing about. Pinterest has been a treasure trove of images that have grounded me in the 19th century.
As to literary inspiration, I look to writers who have lyrical narrative styles. Their words open me to looking at the world from a different perspective. The most recent of these is Crystal Wilkinson who has a poet's heart and it beats within the prose of her narratives. "Imagine yourself a woman who gathers stories in her apron" or "Memory reached out, swirled around her head, and pounded like a fist." or "Her mother, deep, deep, brown with a bit of Europe dancing in her face--the elongated nose, pointy chin, and thin lips." or "In her mind, voices rise up, voices of women telling their own stories, even when she tries to speak out loud over those kitchen ghosts." or "Mama gone, Granny gone, roots still here."
Lovely! I don't know her work yet but will check it out!
I recommend that you start with The Birds of Opulence. One of the best books I've read this year.
Gracias!
L. M. Montgomery or Amy Carmichael