The poet Dylan Thomas held on to some of his school notebooks from his youth, and mined their contents for his adult work. For many years, only 4 notebooks were known of, but in 2014 a fifth came to light. John Goodby, the professor who edited it for publication, tells its story in an article … Continue reading A Dylan Thomas Notebook
I usually don’t like to write about notebooks that are associated with crime– they usually involve the sociopathic journal entries of serial killers or mass shooters and I have no desire to give them any further publicity. But here’s a notebook that harkens back to an era of more romanticized (if not much less violent) … Continue reading Bonnie Parker’s Notebook
I love this collection of notebooks, which have been used to record hundreds or even thousands of haiku. (The original post at Notebookers.jp is in Japanese, so I am relying on Google translate.) I don’t know much about Japanese writing and only know the most basic structure of haiku, but short poems with this kind … Continue reading Haiku Notebooks
Here’s a few interesting links you may enjoy: For Sale: A POW Journal Documenting World War II’s ‘Great Escape’ from Atlas Obscura (Thanks to Mark for the tip!) THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF WORLD War II’s most iconic prisoner-of-war escape is less than two weeks away, on March 24, 2019. Just in time, Hansons Auctioneers in England is offering … Continue reading Links I Liked, Late March Edition
This week’s notebook addict sent the photos and comments below about her beautiful and colorful notebooks: I can’t exist without writing, painting and making art in my notebooks. I live in the Texas panhandle area. There just isn’t much to do here at all except watch sunsets and moonrise and hear the coyotes howl and … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Mary
Some very intriguing notebook pages were sent to me by a reader named Khang, with this background information: A friend of mine recently sent me several notebooks entries written by Vietnamese and French soldiers aboard the Kilinski, a Polish cargoship. Following the end of fighting in 1954, the ship made trips between North and South … Continue reading Notebook Entries from French and Vietnamese Soldiers
This classic composition notebook belonged to Jim Morrison of the Doors: “On December 18, 2013, auction house Profiles In History sold an original Jim Morrison poetry notebook for its opening estimate of $200,000. It was a lengthy example, containing over 100 pages of handwritten material, and came from the collection of singer-songwriter Graham Nash.” Read … Continue reading Jim Morrison’s Notebook
This week’s addict emailed me a wonderful essay on why she loves notebooks, and how writing in them inspires her creativity. Here’s some photos of some of her notebooks: “I guess you could say that I’m a notebook addict. My current favourite are Paperblanks which I mainly use as Writing Notebooks and Journals. I’ve always … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Carley
From a lovely essay about using notebooks, by Elaine Fletcher Chapman: Most writers I know work from notebooks. I carry mine with me, as Jason Shinder was known to advise, along with a folder of poems I am currently revising. Even on my shorter commutes, I carry the pair. They remind me of my heart’s … Continue reading “They remind me of my heart’s desire…”
This week’s addict wrote a blog post called A Pile of Notebooks, including the photo and excerpt below: I love notebooks, I love the possibilities that a new notebook holds; the clean blank pages, the elastic band that holds it closed, the ribbon page marker. But, being an obsessive-compulsive, each entry would have to be … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Mark William Jackson