Notes in May 2026

In writing about writing, I’ve written about George Saunders’ A Swin in a Pond in the Rain.

In reading about writing, I’m rereading some LeGuin essays.

In reading about reading, I have recently finished Aisha Sabatini Sloan’s Dreaming in Ramadi in Detroit (which is about many other things also).

And in writing about reading, I’ve been thinking about how the seasons affecting reading choices in childhood versus reading selections in adulthood.

It was a May morning, early. The morning of a piece-meal flicker-light day. It was the time of the return of shadows. The time once again where there was sun enough and leaf enough to give some variety to the monotony of a wall or strip of land.
Jessamyn West


4 Replies to “Notes in May 2026”

  1. I don’t seem to be getting notifications, but with a half hour to spare I thought I’d check to see what I missed. Loved the way you captured the atmosphere in The Beauty of Us – there were resonances with Gurnah’s After Lives, which I am currently reading, when a narrator in a new town finds himself in the midst of competing calls to prayer.

    1. I didn’t get a notification about your comment either: too bad internet, we see through your shenangans!
      Thank you kindly. I’m looking foward to seeing where you spotted some connections.

  2. Moving on to May ’25
    Jarman sounds amazing (and I am surprised how many Canadian references I get. I wonder how many I miss). Jarman, Hopkinson – I think you might have more exciting writers than we do in Aust.

    1. It did occur to me, while reading Jarman, and flipping back and forth and back and forth again, that I could imagine you enjoying his stories, EVEN THOUGH I know that you don’t generally enjoy short stories. And, by this point, I think you’ve likely read more CanLit than most Canadians, for reals.

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