26 members get through a lot of books. What have been our favourites this year? Whether you need a last-minute Christmas present idea, or you’re just looking for new books for next year, here are some of our writers with their best reads of 2012. You’ll find a couple of books are recommended by more [...]
Britain’s childhood across the decades Walking around the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, I feel as if I’m being watched. Did Muffin the Mule really have eyes in the back of his head? I’m sure I can hear his ghostly whinny as he stares at me, glassy-eyed from his glassy case, shrill amongst [...]
The ‘litterati’ were out in force at the launch of the Throwaway Lines exhibition at The Free Word Centre in October, proving that rubbish is not only good to write about, it’s also worth hanging on the wall. I’m no stranger to trash. I lived by the sea for a while and beach clean-ups were [...]
Elise Valmorbida writes about forthcoming Russianness at the Oxfordshire haven of Stonehill House Do you remember I wrote about my Pasternak weekend in June earlier this year? Er, well, I did. Have a look back at my review here. No. Have a look forward! You too can enjoy a weekend of inspiration, delicious food [...]
It’s a glorious spell of early summer. I’m in Oxfordshire, somewhere near the ancient holy place of Abingdon. A giant mirrored sculpture of Pegasus, “the poet’s wingèd steed”, guards the entrance of Stonehill House. Songbirds and crows provide the soundtrack. I disappear into a barn with Pasternak. Boris Pasternak, Russian-Jewish poet and author of Dr [...]
Throwaway Wordstock A word in your bin by 26 board member, author and crypto-gleaner, Elise Valmorbida Look down! That’s what you must do in London. Not just to avoid the unpleasant stuff. There be unburied treasure. Leavings, losings, fallings from pockets. A piece of plastic widgetry. A painted sign. A scrap of paper, scrawled on, rain-soaked, grimy [...]
I’m not from these parts. I grew up and have lived mostly across the water. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Belfast over these past 8 years, it’s that there’s creativity in abundance. It’s hard to walk down a street without tripping over a bit. Carelessly disgarded by some passing artist; bag over-flowing [...]
Creative Mischief by Dave Trott, published by LOAF Marketing, £7.99 Musings from the colourful Mr Trott on various issues pertaining to advertising and creativity in general. Various pearls scattered throughout. Similar in ambition and form to the Paul Arden books. Lots. Of. Short sentences. Create. A. Self consciously. Edgy. Feel. Roger Horberry The Power of [...]
Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain by Barbara Strauch, Penguin, £9.99 This book is for everyone who walks downstairs, then has to go back upstairs to remind themselves why they went downstairs in the first place. It reassuringly describes new research into neuroscience, explaining that absent-mindedness of middle age develops at the same time as [...]
By Rob Self-Pierson We all tell stories. It’s how we engage with each other. Come home from work and tell your wife about the window cleaner who didn’t realise the window was open. Head to the pub and chat to Matt about his latest trip to the hospital with his pregnant wife. Stand in a [...]
A few weeks ago, Lemon Quay in Truro was home to a shipping container filled with words and stories celebrating theatre and performance. Disappearing nearly as quickly as it arrived, it feels about time to look back at what we made. By Sam Gray It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m sat, feet up, in a room [...]
I never thought I would live to see grown men queuing excitedly to have their photo taken with a couple of cuddly toys. But it came to pass on 20 January at the Skype HQ, when Peter Firmin gave a talk to 26 members about his life as the creator of Bagpuss, the Clangers, Basil [...]
Pads, Pens and Yellow Pencils was a joint event organised by D&AD and 26 to provoke discussion about the Writing for Design category at D&AD, and about writing in general. It took place at the Vibe Bar in London on 11 November 2010. Audience member Dan Radley and panellist Nick Asbury give their perspectives here. [...]
Howard Jacobson turned up to the 26 Annual Speech. It’s fair to say that some other people might had found a good excuse not to, if they’d just won the Booker prize, done 35 interviews, lost two nights’ sleep, shot into the New York Times bestseller list and had their lives changed for ever. Getting [...]
Writing your own luck Have idea. Write book. Submit to agent. Receive rejection. Try again. And again. Eventually secure agent. Submit manuscript to publisher. Receive rejection. And another. In fact, start rejection collection. Have idea. Call it Rejection Collection. Approach agent… Sound familiar? To a lot of those writers who are mingling in the Whitechapel [...]
“Is that the chocolate?” friends asked in casual conversation before I left London for Linz. “No, it was Hitler’s adoptive home and capital of choice. But this year it’s the European Capital of Culture.” How appropriate that Linz should be the meeting place for the world’s writers – poets, bloggers, essayists, journalists, novelists, dramatists, lyricists [...]
For those of you who missed the second 26 Annual Lecture with Oona King last month, here’s your chance to catch all the action from the comfort of your own computer. Just click http://www.vimeo.com/7836780, and you’ll be taken to the Vimeo site, where you can watch Oona in full flow. Or for a quick overview, read [...]
Beautiful. Powerful. Moving. Emotional. Inspiring. It’s just words. I find it amazing how different minds process the same thing. The same sight, sound, colour, movement. When an old boss briefed a design colleague on edits he needed to make to a door-drop flyer – a simple, two-sided card flyer – she used the words, “Don’t [...]
It’s a shame in a way that the Whitechapel Gallery ended up being too small for Harry Pearce’s 26 talk last week. This new-look building is a fascinating place, full of memories of writers and artists now long gone. Having been rebuilt from a combination of the old library and the old gallery, the place [...]
A 21st Century Printing Press What would’ve happened ten years ago if you’d told a keen writer they could get published for free? You pay nothing, you receive nothing. But you get your words, your story and your name in front of people. The reaction would probably have been similar to tonight’s, in the downstairs [...]
