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!
Continue reading
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!)
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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).
Continue reading
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!
Continue reading
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!
Continue reading
During our last meeting of 2020, we found quick consensus that balance is not one-size fits all—and the materials we discussed show this range. The lists below spans scientific research and a guide for homemakers, to excellent storytelling and some much-needed feel-good watching.
If you’re interested in getting together to talk about all things wordy in 2021, please answer our short survey to help plan the next meetings of The Literati.
Continue reading
The backdrop of COVID-19 brought a different perspective to our discussion about all things wordy on the theme of vulnerability. We delved into this broad topic from many angles—from sex and relationships to the survival of an entire species and the unprotectedness of immigrants, even touching on the far-too-relevant topic of ‘sheltering the vulnerable’—and came up with a great list of things to read and watch.
There are strong characters who have very human vulnerabilities, behind-the-curtain observations about domestic life and inner thoughts, larger questions of flight or fight, and a few topical recommendations.
Continue reading