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From the Arthurian Lit Readings: “Sir Palomydes’ Quest” by William Morris
Arthuriana and the Matter of Britain influenced centuries of writers and artists, but many think of the Arts & Crafts movement and Pre-Raphaelites when it comes to the visuals. Few know, however, that William Morris himself was more than a painter–in fact, he was also a fantasy writer and poet (among many other things). During my graduate research, I came upon his poem “The Defense of Guinevere” and, ultimately, more of his Arthurian poetry work. Sir Palomydes has always been one of my favorites, the prince from the Middle East sent to Arthur’s court as a paragon of chivalry–who falls in love with Iseult but never gets her (thanks,…
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Marching on…
Oh, look, I’m starting this post with a pun about the month of March. But yeah. Looks like I went the entire month of February without posting a single darned thing to my blog. Apologies. Sort of. We’ve moved, I’ve been working full-time, and life in general has been speeding by so fast I’m having a hard time keeping track of time, let alone posts. I’m not really apologizing, because it’s not like I’ve neglected on purpose. Anyone who’s sent me email in the last month will probably attest to the fact that response times aren’t really my strength at the moment! But I’m getting there. Anyway, in writing news: …
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Updates in a Nutshell: Publishing, Reading, and Writing
Well, enough has been going on in the last few weeks that I thought it might be helpful to make a fancy wee bullet list for organization’s sake! First up is a reading that I’ll be doing on December 10th with Jeff VanderMeer and Mur Lafferty at Chapel Hill Comics (which is both thrilling and awe-inspiring, since I get to read, um, my stuff next to their stuff!). Jeff was kind enough to invite me along. Following the readings will be a freeform storytelling session where we’ll work together on a story all live and junk! Makes me glad for all those years of improv and, also, quite thankful for…
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It is universally acknowledged that women English majors of a certain age always read Jane Austen.
Unless you’re me. Oh, it isn’t that I never tried. It’s just that Austen always seemed a little too foofy for me, a bit too girlie and modern (to a medievalist, anyway). Not to mention that in undergraduate and graduate studies I was constantly trying to distance myself from women writers and feminist readings because everyone always assumed that’s what I was. I wanted to play with the boys and talk about chivalry and brain bashing. I didn’t want to have anything to do with feminist bullcrap. Yeah. That was pretty stupid of me. I entirely blame my son for my becoming a total feminist. No, on the surface, I…
