Reading with the Seasons
This has been a lovely year for reading, so here are the books that have inspired my writing and ideas in 2022, starting with January and moving towards December.
From poetry to memoir, short stories and novels, these 12 titles all have great sentences, fascinating themes and scenes that evoke the rhythms of the natural world. I’ve loved Gwendolyn Brooks' masterpiece of grit, hope and dreams 'Maud Martha' told in shimmering vignettes and marvelled at Sheila Heti's bright, brilliant novel, which includes a section on living life as a leaf in summertime.
These books follow the seasons, month by month—imagine them as a series you might read slowly as the year unfolds. Enjoy!
Wishing you a calm and thoughtful December. Thanks so much for joining me to write, read and take inspiration from the world around us.
I’ll be back in January 2023 for another year of writing prompts, tips, ideas and seasonal creativity.
Gemma x
A writing prompt to close the year
Oh, how he used to wriggle! do little mean things! do great big wonderful things! and laugh laugh laugh. — Gwendolyn Brooks, ‘Maud Martha’
We’re in the darkest part of the year, the week before winter solstice. We seek lightness around and within us to guide us towards the lengthening days. So, take 10 minutes now to fill your page with laughter.
Write about people laughing. Write about the last time you laughed. Or a time you made someone laugh, or they made you laugh. When you laughed until you cried (or cried until you laughed). Can you describe how other people laugh? How would you characterise your own sense of humour? What does your laugh sound like?