A Writer's Moment: Banking on 'the creative imagination of the reader'

A Writer's Moment: Banking on 'the creative imagination of the reader':   “If I had to put a name to it, I would wish that all my books were entertainments. I think the first thing you've got to do is grab th...

Banking on 'the creative imagination of the reader'

 

“If I had to put a name to it, I would wish that all my books were entertainments. I think the first thing you've got to do is grab the reader by the ear, and make him sit down and listen. Make him laugh, make him feel. We all want to be entertained at a very high level.” – John le Carre

 

Born in Poole, England on this date in 1931, le Carre’s wrote The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, a 60-year (and counting) bestseller that also was turned into an award-winning movie.    A one-time spy himself, le Carre, whose real name is David John Moore Cornwell, established himself as one of the greatest “espionage” authors of all time. 

 

Most of le Carre's novels are set in the Cold War Era (1945–91) and feature British MI-6 agents, unheroic political functionaries engaged in psychological more than physical drama.  His 1986 novel A Perfect Spy, cited as his most autobiographical espionage novel, chronicles the boyhood moral education of his character Magnus Pym and how it leads to his becoming a spy.

 

Le Carre earned his bachelor’s degree from Oxford University which awarded him an Honorary Doctorate degree in 2012.  In 2020, shortly before his death, he was given the Olof Palme Award by Sweden and donated the $100 thousand prize to Doctors Without Borders.  Le Carre wrote 26 novels, the final one, Silverview. published posthumously in 2021.  Thirteen of them were made into movies or television series.

 

“Like every novelist, I fantasize about film” he said.  “But, novelists are not equipped to make a movie, in my opinion.  They make their own movie when they write: they're casting, they're dressing the scene, they're working out where the energy of the scene is coming from, but they're also relying tremendously on the creative imagination of the reader.”

A Writer's Moment: Chronicling 'A familiar daily struggle'

A Writer's Moment: Chronicling 'A familiar daily struggle':   “If someone is alone reading my poems, I hope it would be like reading someone's notebook. A record. Of a place, beauty, difficulty. A...

Chronicling 'A familiar daily struggle'

 

“If someone is alone reading my poems, I hope it would be like reading someone's notebook. A record. Of a place, beauty, difficulty. A familiar daily struggle.” – Fanny Howe

Born in Buffalo, NY on Oct. 15, 1940, Howe was awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize by the Poetry Foundation “For lifetime accomplishments that warrant extraordinary recognition.”  One of America’s most widely read poets, Howe also had a distinguished record as an essayist and novelist and had more than 50 books published.   Her final book, released earlier this year following her death in 2025, is the poetry collection This Poor Book.  For Saturday’s Poem, here is Howe’s,

                                    Footsteps

I have never arrived
into a new life yet.

Have you?

Do you find the squeak
of boots on snow

excruciating?

Have you heard people
say, It wasn't me,

when they accomplished
a great feat?

I have, often.
But rarely.

•

Possibility
is one of the elements.
It keeps things going.

The ferry
with its ratty engine
and exactitude at chugging
into blocks and chains.

Returning as ever
to mother's house
under a salty rain.

Slave up, slave down.

A Writer's Moment: 'Fire, joy and no apologies'

A Writer's Moment: 'Fire, joy and no apologies':   “Forget market or publishers or whatever. Just write with fire and joy, and in my own experience, those are the stories of mine people hav...

'Fire, joy and no apologies'

 

“Forget market or publishers or whatever. Just write with fire and joy, and in my own experience, those are the stories of mine people have wanted to read.” – Patrick Ness

 

Born at Fort Belvoir, VA on Oct. 17, 1971 Ness is best known for his books for young adults, including the Chaos Walking trilogy and Monsters of Men and A Monster Calls, back-to-back winners of the prestigious Carnegie Medal from the Association of British Librarians. 

 

The author of 14 novels and many short stories, he grew up in several different U.S. states, moving around as a member of an Army family.  After earning a degree from the University of Southern California, he relocated to London and now holds dual U.S.-British citizenship.

 

A Monster Calls, while a massive bestseller for Ness, was first an idea from fellow author Siobhan Dowd.  Gravely ill, she had developed it and asked Ness to do the writing and artist Jim Kay to illustrate it.  The resulting book not only won the Carnegie for Ness but also the Kate Greenaway Medal for Kay’s art – the first time one novel has won both major awards. 

 

While Ness’s books are primarily for Young Adults, he’s built a large support group of adult readers, too, and said YA fiction is popular with adults because many adults “hunger for narrative just as badly as teenagers do.”   Ness’s most recent books are Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody: The Hat of Great Importance (2025) and the first in a new planned trilogy Piper at the Gates of Dusk (out this past spring).

 

 “A book cannot apologize for what people may think it should be,” Ness said.  “It has to be authoritative. That's what I want as a reader - I want to be confident that the book will do its job.”

A Writer's Moment: 'The greatest story we can tell'

A Writer's Moment: 'The greatest story we can tell':   “Baseball is a game that shouts, 'Slow Down' to America. Stop tweeting, texting, blogging, watching cable news, and obsessing abou...