Words, the power of words and the work of wordsmiths

Ruth HartleyBooks by Ruth Hartley, Creativity, Politics, Power, Religion, Writing Process, Zambia2 Comments

“For magic consists in this, the true naming of a thing.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea Words and editing I’m engaged in a major rewrite of my children’s book The Drought Witch. It’s an exciting task expanding a children’s picture book into a novel for 9 to13-year-olds but the interesting work is in the editing and […]

Stories about wars that stop us remembering to forget

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Migration, Politics, Power, Race, Racism, Southern Africa, The Shaping of Water, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, The White and Black Blues, Truth, Visual Arts, War, Writing Process7 Comments

Black Cowboys in the Wild West and African-American soldiers in WW2 There are facts we don’t know and facts we choose not to know because they don’t suit us. There are facts that are hidden from us by politicians and power-hungry people and there are facts which are distorted by the media, by myth-makers, advertisers and film makers. When it […]

What a writer does and doesn’t do all day

Ruth HartleyArt Process, Book Publishing, Books by Ruth Hartley, Education, Imagination, Music, Promotion, Reading, Writing Process1 Comment

All beginnings are hard – just look at the time already! It’s a good morning’s work when I sit down at my laptop in my pyjamas, before breakfast, ignore my husband, begin at once to write, and then carry on for hours. There were many a good night’s work done when, as a single woman, I wrote after supper, then […]

Tanvir Bush’s novel, CULL is personal, political, & passionate

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Book Launch, Book Publishing, Books by Ruth Hartley, Politics, Reading, Video4 Comments

Tanvir Bush’s novel, CULL is launched What a launch it was too! There were 100 people in the Town Hall for the event. The Corsham Bookshop laid on the wine and snacks and managed the book sales. The event was filmed and will shortly be on YouTube. There were reading and performances and  guests, Miro Griffiths and Esther Fox, colleagues […]

The story of my stories — writing and publishing

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Books by Ruth Hartley, Creativity, Identity, Memoir, Poetry, Politics, Reading, Southern Africa, The Love and Wisdom Crimes, The Shaping of Water, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, The White and Black Blues, Writing Process, Zambia10 Comments

The storyteller’s story It is time to tell of my own journey as a writer from the young poet in 1961 to the writer of today. It’s a story of both writing and publishing. I am in the process of publishing three more books right now. They are a novel, The Love and Wisdom Crimes, a memoir, When I was […]