A Frank Literary Blog!

My short audio on the significance of the date, July 1956, at the beginning of The Remains of the Day.

My short audio explaining the feeling and passion behind my literature heart and soul courses! Exploring novels, for me, is not about...

(click image for audio) In a short aside in chapter 22 of Vanity Fair, the narrator tells us about a gentleman he knows who, "used to do little wrongs to his neighbours on purpose, and in order to apologize for them in an open and manly way afterwards." The result of this, the narrator continues, is that his friend is, "liked everywhere, and deemed to be rather impetuous - but the honestest fellow." Thackeray, it seems, were he alive today, would understand exactly what we

What is it about, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson? When it was first published in the New Yorker in 1948, the magazine was inundated with letters, many of them hostile, demanding an explanation. Why had this story been published? What did it mean? How could the author write such a story — especially a female author?!? Yes, Shirley Jackson’s seemingly simple story spoke to the very complex issues of patriarchy, violence and “civil” society that lurk beneath the surface of o

This week I am pleased to share a wonderful interview with singer-songwriter, Jude Adams! In the way she embraced the questions, Jude...

This was a pivotal interview for me, and I will always be grateful to Keri for speaking with such honest clarity. In doing so, in...

My Stories of Our Lives project has changed things for me over the past months, not least in that I have the opportunity to speak with...

My online study group focusing on the key ideas behind Stories of Our Lives! We will discuss the stories of who we are; our busy...

This interview with Kerry O'Sullivan was such a joy! Kerry is a woman on a mission to inspire others, and wow it's going to be fun...

My first Stories of Our Lives! interview, and such an enjoyable one! Recorded back in November with Sam Alexander, who is an absolute...

This week, a heart-warming and uplifting conversation with a truly lovely spirited guy, Antony Fitzgerald! I've met Antony once, and we...

In this interview, with the brilliant and very unfluffy, Nicola Lutz-Collier, we consider the expectations we carry through our lives,...

I love stories! From the great stories of literature, to my neighbour’s story about why he’s always late, I find stories fascinating....