Monday 24 December 2012

The year in writing

This year, I have written and written and written. To wind up 2012, here is a collection of pieces that I enjoyed writing or were otherwise particularly meaningful.

Three takes on Arthur 
Or, why I was so disappointed by Peter Ackroyd's 'The death of King Arthur'

Getting down with gaming
A joint review of books by Pippin Barr and Tom Bissell

Let us roll all our strength 
Poems from this year's KiwiFoo (one of the most touching hours of my year)

Ladies' choice
Two parables about making your way through the world

How to read a book
Because the act of reading can be an act of living

Small-talk
On the first-dateability of undergrad degrees

Dear Competent 
A love letter to a neglected quality

James Schuyler, Selected Poems
A review of one of my favourite books of the year

Adventures in scent 
In 2012 my perfume obsession continued. On the evening I wrote about here, I added 'Midnight Oud' to my shelf.

Patrick Lundberg at Robert Heald Gallery 
This show was really important to me. Standing in it made the world feel like it might be able to fall back into place again.

Wislawa Szymborska, View with a grain of sand 
The Polish poet has come to occupy a special place in my heart.

A short list for love and joy
Poems that made a difference this year

Where does history start?
A project I want to make one day

Mark Leidner, Beauty was the case that they gave me 
The first poet for whom I have written a fan letter

Craig Arnold's Hymn to Persephone
None of my own words. Possibly the most beautiful thing I read all year.

For the record
Using Over the Net's tweets to pull together a record of the two nights of the Les and Milly Paris Collection auction: part one and part two (warning - will take a while to load)

Dance notation
One of the most exciting nights on the internet of the year

An afternoon with Michael Parekowhai's On first looking into Chapman's Homer 
This encounter meant so much to me.

Black on maroon
Watching the story of the vandalism of the Rothko at Tate Modern unspool online was riveting

Behind the scenes
Because being able to spend time in the collections is a joy and a privilege

Goodbye to all that 
Leaving the language of web development (partly) behind

Going back to gallery land (NDF2012 presentation)
Thoughts on moving back into the art world, metaphors and management, and bringing emotion into the experiences we make (also: A poem, three photographs and another poem, an illustrated excerpt from this talk).



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