3. READ. LOOK. THINK.

Some items of interest.

READ.

• What makes a good writer? Is writing an expression of self, or, as TS Eliot argued, ‘an escape from personality’? | Zadie Smith (2007)
• The consequences of writing without reading | Imprint
• Making room for readers. “Every book is a children’s book if the kid can read.” | The Millions
• “Writing is the gradual revelation of a wholeness already felt when one has the idea for the poem.” | Stephen Spender, Paris Review
• The life and times of M. Serge Gainsbourg | The Quietus (then watch the film of his life)
• What girls need | VICE
• Astronomers have identified the exact moment a sleepless Mary Shelley conceived of Frankenstein | The Guardian
• This article (plus Friday Night Lights) makes me understand why my Dad’s so perfect at endurance sport coaching, the new profession he took up sparingly but in a dedicated way when he retired. | The New Yorker
• “Michael has a problem… he doesn’t know how to go about finding a friend.” Michael Kirby, formerly of Australia’s highest court, talks about finding the love of his life in the 1960s when being gay was a cause of “shame and denial.” They’ve been together for more than 30 years. (This made me cry in a taxi.) | The Australian
• A 2010 interview with PD James, once described as ‘Iris Murdoch with murders.’ I went to see her (my favourite detective writer of all time) in conversation with Ruth Rendell at the Soho Lit Fest and left filled with even more admiration for her | Telegraph
• “The memory of a night with the gay Murphys of Paris and Antibes in that rarefied cold silence and atmosphere of death is one of the most terrifying of my life.” The real life couple that may’ve inspired the Divers from F Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘Tender is the Night.’ The New Yorker

LOOK.

• Emmeline Pankhurst and Mouse Castle | The Persephone Post
• A bat embryo.
• Movies and Food, a Tumblr
• Paper sculpture | Anna-Wili Highfield
• Childhood: the original motion picture soundtrack compilation, a mixtape
• Dear ada, a Tumblr
• The toughest little bird you’ve never heard of | Krulwich Wonders
• Campfire Girls | clever nettle
• Forget Kickstarter | @juliangough (Also: “I always think about if money was absolutely not an object – how different an artist’s practice would be.“)

THINK.

• “I apologize to readers that I do not post photos of my babes online as I wish to protect the space and privacy of my family.” | Keri Smith
• Implementing strategies in extreme negotiations | Harvard Business Review
• Academically talented young people need the same kind of mental skills training given to athletes and artistic performers to help them deal with the pressure that comes with being gifted | Association for Psychological Science
• DIY climate modelling | Climate Wizard
• Childhood being eroded by modern life, experts warn | Telegraph
• Asking about politics ruins people’s sense of well-being | WSJ
• The glass-half-full beat: exploring the positive news niche.” | CJR (I have been thinking about the need for something like this for a very long time. It’s not being a Pollyanna, it’s about managing your energy and positivity to stay engaged in big issues over a long period of time – let alone take an active role in finding solutions.)
• Scientists: We underestimate the pleasure nature gives us.

LINKNESS.

• My wrap up of the week’s top strategy + creativity + marketing reads on Nextness.