Posts Tagged Writer
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June 4, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
The Mary Gauthier Starter-Kit
Mary Gauthier (you pronounce it “Go-Shay”) is one of those great, great songwriters that never seems to get mentioned in the first breath of great songwriters. It’s a little bit of a secret. But like John Prine, and I would add Paul Kelly straight in there too, she’s got songs for days. Songs, in fact, […]Archive
March 17, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Bob Odenkirk: Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama
Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama Bob Odenkirk Penguin Random House I love Bob Odenkirk. Have done since before I knew his name. He just kept popping up on things. That same face in everything. A mild smirk. A guy who had some sadness, some trauma etched onto him and laced all through his comedy. A guy […]Archive
March 4, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
A Blank Page Never Hurt Anyone
A few days into a self-imposed Facebook exile – I’m pretty convinced I’m ditching it for good (most certainly ‘for good’) – I realise that so much of my posting was caught up in fear of the blank page. If you are writing – if you are a writer – you can justify the time-suck […]Archive
February 22, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Finding Delmore: Only In Dreams
Delmore Schwartz was an American poet, short story writer and scholar. His most famous story is In Dreams Begin Responsibilities. It was first published in 1937 and became the title for Schwartz’ first book. That was published a year later, he was 25. The story has been widely anthologised and is a classic piece of […]Archive
February 22, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: The Prize For Industrial Application
Writing is something you do. But it is also who you are – worse still, who you are trying to be. You are a writer as much as you’re ever someone who does some writing. I have always known this even when I haven’t always shown it. I am not my writing. But it is […]Archive
February 18, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. P.J. O’Rourke
P.J. O’Rourke has died. He was a week off turning 75. He was one of my favourite writers, a towering influence, of huge importance to me in my teen years and early 20s. He was at the sophisticated end of Frat-Boy humour (Modern Manners, The Bachelor Home Companion) and of course he went far beyond […]Archive
February 3, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Stubs: # 288 – Ben Elton, Wellington, 2021
I didn’t write a review of this show – because I interviewed Ben ahead of the tour. What a treat that was – Ben Elton on the phone. Actually you can have a listen! First I wrote it up for my newsletter and site, then I decided the audio was good enough, so I shared […]Archive
January 24, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
Ex-Radio Head: No Longer A Music Writer/Always A Music Writer
I’m always looking for music to write about. Which is not my ‘job’. But it is my ‘role’. Something I selected for myself a long time ago, long before I was ever published or paid. Music started speaking to me on the level where I felt I had to speak back to it – and […]Archive
January 2, 2022 by Simon Sweetman
R.I.P. Joan Didion
Just ahead of Christmas it was very sad to hear of the passing of Joan Didion. She lived a long and extraordinary life and wrote so beautifully, so dutifully also. She was a chronicler of times, putting art into journalism, putting her life down on the page alongside all she captured. She’s been one of […]Archive
November 21, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
In Praise of Tom Scharpling
Some days I reckon Tom Scharpling is one of the funniest people alive. Certainly, Tom Scharpling is one of the great underground wizards of radio, and podcasting. I don’t know how I first heard about him – or when I first started tuning in properly, but he has backstory and projects for days. And as […]Archive
November 16, 2021 by Simon Sweetman