Greg Fields

Sean McBride (1904-88). Won of Maud Gonne, who rejected Yeats's proposals, and John McBride, executed by the British after the Easter Rising. After a stint with the IRA, he became a human rights lawyer and founded Amnesty International. He won the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize. #booksky #writingcommunity

The birthday today of Patti Smith, singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist. Her memoir, 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑲𝒊𝒅𝒔, won the 2010 National Book Award for non-fiction. "Why can’t I write something that would awake the dead? That pursuit is what burns most deeply." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Henry Miller (1891-1980) Anais Nin's lover and the author of 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓, which was banned in the US for 30 years until the Supreme Court overturned charges of obscenity. "Whatever I do is done out of sheer joy; I drop my fruits like a ripe tree." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Samuel Pepys' diary, 1666: "25. Christmas day. I go to church.Then home, and dine well on some good ribs of beef roasted and mince pies; and plenty of good wine of my own; and my heart full of true joy and thanks for the goodness of my condition." Peace, always #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Maud Gonne, Yeats's lifelong muse. He fell in love with her immediately and remained so the rest of his life. Upon his asking her to marry, she told him: "You make beautiful poetry out of your unhappiness and you are happy in that...Poets should never marry." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Today in 1843 Charles Dickens published 𝑨 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒍. His previous novel, 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒖𝒛𝒛𝒍𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒕, was a flop and he was strapped for cash. Dickens thought a heartwarming tale with a holiday theme might be profitable. He worked hard to finish it by Christmas. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Jane Austen (1775-1817). Her work was largely unrecognized during her lifetime, but today there are thousands of members of the Jane Austen Society, known as 'Janeites'. "I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1950 William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize. When called with the news, Faulkner was working on his farm in Mississippi. “It’s too far away. I'm a farmer down here and I can’t get away.” He ultimately relented under pressure from his daughter. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1926 Agatha Christie disappeared from her home, her car abandoned miles away. She was later found in a luxury hotel staying under a different name, claiming she couldn't remember a thing. Whether amnesia or a publicity stunt, her market soared afterwards. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Today in 1860 Charles Dickens' magazine published the first installment of 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, a product of need rather than art. He had purchased a mansion and left his wife, requiring him to pay her separate expenses. It sold well, and Dickens became solvent. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

William Blake (1757-1827) Poet, printmaker and mystic. When he was four, he told his parents that he saw God put his head in the window. And at age nine, he said that he saw a tree filled with angels. "For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In a world littered with Trumps, Vances, Hegseths and Bondis, let's never forget that there's also Snoopy, Linus and Charlie Brown. Charles Schultz, born this day in 1922, in St. Paul, Minnesota #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Arundhati Roy, born in 1961. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 (1997) won the Booker Prize. Her second novel, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑼𝒕𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, did not appear until twenty years later. "Being a writer is the thing that comes closest to not having a profession." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

French writer, satirist and philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778), who helped spark the Enlightenment. His wit and criticism of Christianity and his advocacy of freedoms of speech and religion and church-state separation earned him both exile and literary immortality. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

South African writer and activist Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014), 1991 Nobel Prize "What is the purpose of writing? For me it is to explain the mystery of life [which] includes, of course, the personal, the political, the forces that make us what we are." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood, born this day in 1939. Multiple winner of the Booker Prize, whose signature work 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒅'𝒔 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒆 has become all too relevant. "The facts of this world seen clearly are seen through tears." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑰𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 and 𝑫𝒓.𝑱𝒆𝒌𝒚𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒓. 𝑯𝒚𝒅𝒆 (which he wrote in three days after a vivid dream). He collapsed while opening a bottle of wine, asking his wife 'Does my face look strange?', and died of a brain hemorrhage at age 44. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-81) He gave his first novel, 𝑷𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒐𝒍𝒌, to some friends, who stayed up all night reading it. They pounded on his door at 4:00 AM to tell him that he'd written a masterpiece. He later said that was the happiest moment of his life. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1960, after a jury finds publisher Penguin Books not guilty in an obscenity trial, the uncensored version of D. H. Lawrence's 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒚'𝒔 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 finally goes on sale in the UK. Sales were brisk. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Albert Camus (1913-60) Born in Algeria, he moved to Paris in 1940 and finished 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 as tanks rolled into the city. "A writer cannot put himself today in the service of those who make history; he is at the service of those who suffer it." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1996 Spalding Gray's one-man play 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒂 𝑺𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆 opened. One critic wrote of Gray's style: "Spalding the storyteller. Spalding the mystical. Spalding the hilarious. Spalding the self-exposed, the professionally puzzled, the scared, the brave." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

John Keats (1795-1821) He apprenticed in a hospital and even worked as a surgeon before turning to poetry. Tuberculosis forced him to Italy, where he fell in love with Fanny Brawne and did his best work. He died just as a poor review for 𝑬𝒏𝒅𝒚𝒎𝒊𝒐𝒏 was published. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

James Boswell (1740-95) He loved gossip and drinking, so he went to London, met his hero Samuel Johnson in the back of a bookshop and followed him around for the next 20 years. In 1791 he published 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒖𝒆𝒍 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏, the first truly personal biography. #booksky #writingccommunity #authors

Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (1914-53), born this day "I hold a beast, an angel and a madman in me, and my enquiry is as to their working, and my problem is their subjugation and victory, downthrow and upheaval, and my effort is their self-expression." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

The birthday of Pat Conroy (1945-2016) 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒊, etc. Brilliant, lyrical, evocative and intense, he loved the written word unlike anyone I've ever read, and fostered the careers of so many writers, including my own. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Poet John Berryman (1914-72) As treatment for his mental struggles he logged his dreams. These became 𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔, his best work. A professor at the time, he committed suicide by jumping off a bridge at the U. of Minnesota as students walked by him to class. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1958 Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) was awarded the Nobel Prize. Enraged, the Soviet Union's Communist Party forced him to decline it. His son finally accepted the award on his father's behalf in 1989. 𝑫𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒁𝒉𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒈𝒐 is now part of the Russian school curriculum. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1964 French author Jean-Paul Sartre refused the Nobel Prize for Literature, stating that he did not believe that writers should be part of an institution. He also states that the award favored Western models and marginalized writers with different ideologies. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh (1904-67) - 𝑶𝒏 𝑹𝒂𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅 "The question of technique is not simply a matter of grammar and syntax or anything as easy as that. It has to do with the mystical. Real technique is a spiritual quality, a condition of mind..." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1955 Tolkien's 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 was published. Its penultimate chapter, "The Scouring of the Shire", has been called the most important of the entire 𝑳𝑶𝑻𝑹 saga, containing a satire of socialism, allusions to the postwar era, and a nod to environmentalism #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Playwright Arthur Miller (1915-2005) While writing his play 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒏, he went to bed at night and realized that his face was wet from crying, and his throat was sore from speaking and shouting the lines of dialogue as he wrote. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) - Poet, playwright, novelist Imprisoned in 1895 for 'gross indecency', hard labor, hard food and a hard bed wore away his already delicate health. After release he wandered the streets of Paris alone and spent what little he had on drink. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Poet ee cummings (1894-1962) Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote "He offers for sale poetry which is...inexplicable to a person as intelligent as myself...What I propose is this: that you give Mr. Cummings enough rope. He may hang himself; or he may lasso a unicorn." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Edward Albee’s 𝑾𝒉𝒐'𝒔 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒂 𝑾𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒇? premieres on Broadway in 1962. Albee who liked the sound of the pun, which he first heard at his favorite bar, and used it as his play’s title. In Prague, the play was billed as ‘Who’s Afraid of Franz Kafka?’ #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1967 𝑩𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑩𝒐𝒚 premiered as a play in Dublin, adapted from Brendan Behan's book. Behan had died three years earlier at age 41. While in New York he became friends with Arthur Miller and Bob Dylan, but his drinking intensified as he struggled with his fame. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1946 Eugene O'Neill's play 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉, centering on a group of alcoholics in a boarding house above a saloon, premiered on Broadway, opening to mixed reviews. It's come to be seen as "a harsh and ruthless drama" and "one of America's greatest plays" #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Frank Herbert (1920-86) While writing an article about Oregon sand dunes he became enthralled by his research. He abandoned the article and wrote 𝑫𝒖𝒏𝒆, which was rejected by 23 publishers before a small press known mainly for its auto-repair manuals took a chance #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

In 1955, with Kerouac in attendance, Allen Ginsberg first read 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒍 at a poetry reading in San Francisco. Ferlinghetti's City Lights Books published it and was brought to trial on obscenity charges, the judge ruling that it was of 'redeeming social importance.' #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

On this day two of William Faulkner's novels were published. He wrote 𝑨𝒔 𝑰 𝑳𝒂𝒚 𝑫𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 in six weeks in 1930 while working night shift at a power plant. But he then struggled mightily with 𝑳𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕 (1932), ripping out pages and changing his main characters. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Thomas Wolfe (1900-38) - 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑯𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍; 𝑶𝒇 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓; 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑪𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝑮𝒐 𝑯𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 "Man is born to live, to suffer, and to die, and what befalls him is a tragic lot. There is no denying this in the final end. But we must deny it all along the way." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

English novelist Graham Greene (1904-91) "Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Novelist Tim O'Brien, born 1946 - 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 "Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are...when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Poet WS Merwin (1927-2019): I asked how can you ever be sure that what you write is really any good at all and he said you can't you can't you can never be sure you die without knowing whether anything you wrote was any good if you have to be sure don't write #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) He joined the Spanish Armada and wounded his left hand, never regaining its full use. Not the luckiest of men, pirates then captured and enslaved him. Upon returning home he was jailed for fraud. While there he began 𝑫𝒐𝒏 𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒙𝒐𝒕𝒆 #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

T.S. Eliot (1887-1965) Born in St. Louis, he moved to England in 1914 and became a British subject. Of his stormy marriage to Vivienne Haigh-Wood: "To her, the marriage brought no happiness. To me, it brought the state of mind out of which came 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒅" #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

William Faulkner (1897-1962) From his Nobel acceptance speech: "It is the poet's privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart...The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail." #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Back from Ireland where I presented at the Dublin International Writers Festival. I spoke on Why We Write. "We write to build community, to strip away the pains that plague us and find the purposes, the challenges of simply being alive." bit.ly/42EGFKQ #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Politically active Chilean poet Pablo Neruda died on this date in 1973. He was in the hospital and called his wife saying “they were giving him something that didn’t feel good." A few hours later he was dead. An investigation into his death is still ongoing. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Samuel Johnson (1709-84) At Oxford he often went barefoot because he couldn't afford to repair his shoes. Another student left a new pair of shoes by his door. Johnson was furious that students thought he was a charity case so he left school and started writing. #booksky #writingcommunity #authors

Ken Kesey (1935-2001) While at Stanford, he took part in a government research project on hallucinogenics. The LSD he was given stayed in his system, and one night he saw a vision of a tall Indian sweeping a floor. The result was 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒘 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒐𝒐'𝒔 𝑵𝒆𝒔𝒕. #booksky #writingommunity #authors