Reading Poetry
A pantoum lets a repeated line change its meaning on the way back
Follow the repeated lines of a pantoum and notice how new neighbours change their meaning. Try a short original exercise before reading the ending again.
BOOKS & THE LIFE AROUND THEM
Keep the conversation going after the last page.
Reading notes, thoughtful book discussions and practical ways to care for the collection you live with.
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Between the covers
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The Physical Book
A tipped-in plate joins a book by its edge rather than a folded gathering
A tipped-in illustration is attached differently from a folded section. Learn to notice the join without stressing an old book.
The Physical Book
Buckram gives library bindings a hard-wearing cloth surface
Buckram is a practical bookbinding cloth with several finishes. Learn what it can tell you about a cover and what it cannot prove about the book inside.
Book History
A dos-à-dos binding joins two books back to back
A dos-à-dos binding joins two text blocks back to back. Learn how to recognise the structure without confusing it with two works bound in one volume.
Reading Fiction
Parataxis and hypotaxis change how a sentence makes you wait
Try two short passages to hear how parataxis and hypotaxis organise clauses, pace a scene and change what a narrator seems to emphasise.
Reading Fiction
Who speaks and who sees? Two questions for reading a novel
Separate the narrator’s voice from the perspective limiting a scene. A short invented example makes focalisation easier to notice in your next novel.