Which is the greatest wealth?

April 10, 2022April 10, 2022Leave a comment

Notes from the April Literati Meeting

While the official theme was ‘Health’ in honour of World Health Day, our recommendations ventured into ‘Motherhood’ (March’s topic), and we found some that touch on both! As the discussion flowed between talking about health (or ill-health) and motherhood, the question remained: Is health the greatest wealth? Or is family worth its weight in gold?

Perhaps the answer is in the list of suggestions below. And, of course, there are a few literary goodies from when we inevitably strayed from the theme (or themes).

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Stack of books wrapped with twinkle lights, topped with a jute bow

A flood of recommendations

December 21, 2021Leave a comment

There’s a great Icelandic word that expresses the glut of books published in the last months of the year: Jólabókaflóðið. It roughly translates as ‘the Christmas book flood’ and speaks to the Icelandic tradition of gifting books to loved ones—probably highly relatable to anyone who loves the written word!

Our gift to and from The Literati community is a flood of recommendations of books and other literary loveliness. Group members highlighted the titles below as ones that lodged in their brains in 2021, in the best possible way!

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Kismet, but wordier

November 25, 2021Leave a comment

Have you ever met someone whose literary taste align so perfectly with yours that it feels like fate brought you together? Their favourite books are already on your top ten list, their podcast recommendations tickle your fancy, your must-read authors are warmly welcomed on their to-read list.

That’s ‘litmet’ in action!

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In the eye of the beholder

October 29, 2021November 1, 20211 Comment

Notes from the October Literati Meeting

Despite the ubiquitous nature of the theme (beauty is all around us, isn’t it?) most of us stumbled selecting suitable resources. After searching our shelves (physical and virtual), we wound up with a great list of things to read, watch, and listen to that touch on beauty. (I’m impressed no one jumped at the obvious Zadie Smith option!)

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Faded white roses laying on loose pages from books

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect

September 4, 2021March 1, 20221 Comment

Notes from the September Literati Meeting

We met to talk about ‘Nature’ as a theme in the glittering world of literature in a quiet corner of a sprawling urban garden. Against a leafy backdrop, our discussion flowed from science fiction with generations of environmental evolution to pastoral admirations of rural life and on to the natural (and inevitable) state of death. We inevitable brought up pandemic-related words and touched on the otherworldliness of the natural world.

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Metallic sculpture of shhh-ing finger in front of a stack of books

Shhh… we’re reading

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021Leave a comment

Perhaps in anticipation of the theme for our December meeting, The Literati has gone a bit quiet. Or maybe the silence is in deference to lots of time spent with wonderful words.

Whatever the reason the root cause of the radio silence, we’re back with dates, themes, and registration for the next set of meetings.

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Woman wearing a pink t-shirt with white printed text: Du respect, du temps, de l'argent

Not-so-radical notions

March 19, 2021March 1, 2022Leave a comment

Notes from the March Literati Meeting

This Zoom call didn’t get off to a particularly light-hearted start. The impact of COVID (both on the fight for equality and my own mental state), breaking news about a murderous man in Atlanta ‘having a really bad day,’ ongoing reports of abuse, hashtag NotAllMen still being a thing, and all the other horrors of the world had me in a pessimistic state of mind. Then, Margaret Atwood (a perennial favourite) came up… and my mood started to pick up.

By the end of our chat about ‘Feminism’ in the glittering world of literature, my optimism had returned. Laughing together and sharing some wonderful resources (listed below) definitely helped—and the ‘Beautiful Queens’ of the Grammys didn’t hurt either.

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Women in brightly-coloured coats with their arms around each other

Words are only part of the picture

March 8, 2021March 8, 2021Leave a comment

International Women’s Day 2021

The topic for this month’s meeting (coming up on Thursday, March 18th) honours today’s celebration of International Women’s Day. We’ll be gathering from 7-8:30pm CET (or thereabouts) via Zoom to share our recommendations of all things wordy around feminism and, as always, build a varied list of recommended reads (and things to listen to and watch).

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Looking on the bright side

January 30, 2021March 8, 2021Leave a comment

Notes from the January Literati meeting

Our January discussion about optimism throughout the glittering world of words was speckled with memoirs of hope in the shadows, expectations being exceeded, the poetry of promise, and some practical advice on making things better.

There’s a full list of the pieces of work we shared with each other below… along with a quote to kick us off and a bonus list of authors we love!

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Two people in dark hoodies sit having a conversation at the end of a dock

New year, new conversations

January 9, 2021April 15, 2021Leave a comment

The start of a new year inevitably leads to planning, resolutions, thoughts of new habits and changing old patterns. Whatever your future plans hold, I hope there’s space for all things wordy!

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