why a magpie?
Magpies are birds that love to collect shiny objects.
Back when we first started creative writing classes in primary school, my teacher used the analogy of a magpie to describe the process of picking out bits we liked from existing works and emulating it in our own pieces. The phrase she used was ‘magpie-ing’ from books that inspired us and storing our treasure in our ‘nests’.analogy of a magpie to describe the process of picking out bits we liked from existing works and emulating it in our own pieces. I vividly remember her telling us to “magpie” from books that inspired us, and to store it in our metaphorical “nests.”
In a similar vein, I hope this blog, too will inspire you to “magpie” something. Whether my work is good enough to serve as your inspiration is subjective, but I hope everyone who visits this blog will leave with something, be it a thought to dwell upon or a new book to put on your reading list.
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In her essay, “Professions for Women,” Virginia Woolf identified the “Angel in the House” as the internalized obstacle women writers must kill before they can create freely. She then pointed to a second, perhaps more profound barrier: the deep absence of a tradition for their lived experience. Woolf argued that a writer – a male…
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We face each other, stomachs heavywith the anticipation of a rich meal. The porcelain of the bowl is scaldingbut I do not mind it as golden broth warms my mouth.I run my nails over the engraved chrysanthemums. I am porcelain. I am stone. I am flesh. I am bone. You tell me your woes, and of course I…
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“Imaginatively she is of the highest importance; practically she is completely insignificant. She pervades poetry from cover to cover; she is all but absent from history” – Virgina Woolf, ‘A Room of One’s Own’ The existences of women in fiction and reality are inextricably linked: the lives of literary women have, and always will, mirror…
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The Magpie Blog 