Over four decades reporting on conflict, Channel 4 News’s international editor has always carried a book of poetry with her. In this extract from her memoir, she explains why her own words were not always enough.
In September 2022, a few days after Russian forces retreated from the Ukrainian town of Izium, I was standing outside an apartment block that had been split apart by a missile. Fifty-four residents had been killed in the Russian attack, which had taken place six months earlier. Purple and yellow wild flowers were growing in the rubble that filled the chasm between the two parts of the block.
“It is not the houses. It is the space between the houses,” I thought. “It is not the streets that exist. It is the streets that no longer exist.” The words of James Fenton’s 1981 poem A German Requiem, about selective memory in the second world war, came to me when I could no longer find my own.
Back at my hotel in Kharkiv, I looked it up.
It is not your memories which haunt you.
It is not what you have written down.
It is what you have forgotten, what you must forget.
What you must go on forgetting all your life.
The idea that the spaces between the houses symbolised gaps in memory, and that forgetting might be essential if people were to live together in peace, encapsulated the future facing the Ukrainians I had met that day...
... A young couple told me that now the Ukrainian authorities were back, they planned to denounce their neighbours for collaboration with the occupiers. I couldn’t know if the neighbours really had collaborated with the Russians, or just done what they deemed necessary to survive. Either way, war had brought bitterness and enmity in its wake. Just like those in Fenton’s poem, from now on people’s lives in Izium would be polluted by suspicion, by the mistrustful look and the whispered word behind the hand.
It is not what he wants to know.
It is what he wants not to know.
It is not what they say.
It is what they do not say.
My TV news report reflected some of this, but it did not have the allusive power of the poem. [...]
Sometimes poetry can serve as a vaccination against despair. On 7 October 2023, militants from the Palestinian group Hamas breached the high-tech fence separating Gaza from Israel and went on a rampage of killing, rape and abduction. It was the single worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Israel proceeded to bomb Gaza relentlessly, destroying homes, killing tens of thousands of civilians and depriving all Gazans of food, water and other basic necessities. The Israel Defense Forces invaded in tanks and armoured vehicles, fighting Hamas, which operated out of tunnels.
The Israeli government told Gazans to flee to the south of the strip, which would be safe. It wasn’t – people were killed when bombs hit their tented camps. Many families were forced to flee multiple times – nowhere was safe. Even the dead could not rest in peace, as tanks ploughed up graveyards.
— Guardian - Lindsey Hilsum on war and the consolation of poetry
Has anything poetic inspired you recently to think and reflect on today's everyday? — Amity
The fishing goes according to our [my] wishes, in that we have tried to lure the poison-serpent of the sea out of the heather of the field of the cod. The caster of the bait-gallows let the one grasped by the hook hang; at all events, things have turned out well for me in catching the trout.
I am currently reading Borges, and he dedicated a chapter for reviewing 'kennings'...If you don't mind, Amity, I'd like to share a kenning I read before: — javi2541997
I am not very informed or acknowledged on Icelandic and Old Nordic poetry, so it is a bit difficult for me to follow some details and descriptions. — javi2541997
Reflecting on the ambiguity of the brief poem above, most experts on Scandinavian literature and poetry agreed that 'the heather of the field of the cod' means seaweed. Fascinating, isn't it? This kind of poetry is helping me to improve my imagination. — javi2541997
Hola, Javi, y muchas gracias — Amity
Yes, it's difficult to follow. However, I discovered that kennings are not only found in Old Nordic poetry.
Excellent information from: — Amity
It is indeed fascinating. How do I say 'book-worm' in Spanish? :wink: — Amity
I wonder now if' stuff' is a bad word to express or refer to something. I am realising that I am using stuff' a lot while I interact with you, mates. I understand that it is not too important to express myself in a perfect manner, yet I guess that maybe I sound 'repetitive' in most of my posts and answers. — javi2541997
We don't refer to worms but to mice to refer to that noun. We say: ratón de biblioteca — javi2541997
Anyway, thanks to the vast and wonderful work of translating by Borges, I started to read and flowing my imagination around. I'd like to feel free and open to interpretation while reading kennings. — javi2541997
Kennings for King
Ring-giver
Treasure-giver
Gold-giver
Homeland’s guardian
Guardian of the ring-hoard
Gold-friend to retainers
Shepherd of people
The first monster that Beowulf slays is Grendel, referred to as:
Hall-watcher
Corpse-maker
Shadow-stalker
Hell-brute
Beowulf has to face Grendel’s mother, a creature called:
Hell-bride
Hell-dam
Tarn-hag
Swamp-thing from hell
Terror-monger
— Old English Kennings
Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney's new translation of Beowulf comes to life in this gripping audio. Heaney's performance reminds us that Beowulf, written near the turn of another millennium, was intended to be heard not read.
Composed toward the end of the first millennium of our era, Beowulf is the elegiac narrative of the adventures of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero who saves the Danes from the seemingly invincible monster Grendel and, later, from Grendel's mother. He then returns to his own country and lives to old age before dying in a vivid fight against a dragon. - HighBridge Audio — Youtube - Joshuas Mirror
Have you considered writing a kenning poem? — Amity
Did ye ken aboot kennings? — Amity
I tend to write poetry every day, but my poems are short and ambiguous, very similar to haiku. I'm even still writing haiku. — javi2541997
It is the only way I can express how I feel. I think it would be impossible for me to describe how a sunset* feels otherwise. I only write in Spanish, but I dream that I will be able to write in English in the future. It is hard to switch emotions into another language. — javi2541997
wonderer
Kenning-comprehender — wonderer1
I took a Tolkien class in college, and one of the things discussed was Tolkien's work on Beowulf. I can't say I remembered the word "kenning", but I was familiar with such use of language in Old English poetry, and such. — wonderer1
Tolkien noted that whatever a translator's preferences might be, the ancients such as the Beowulf poet had chosen to write of times already long gone by, using language that was intentionally archaic and sounding poetic to their audiences. Thus, Tolkien explains, the poet uses beorn and freca to mean "warrior" or "man", this last a usage already then restricted to heroic poetry; at the time, beorn was a variant of the word for bear, just as freca was another word for wolf, and the audience expected and enjoyed hearing such words in the special circumstance of a performance by a scop.
The poet used high-sounding language to represent the heroic in the distant past. Tolkien therefore advised the translator to do the same, choosing verbs like "strike" and "smite" rather than "hit" or "whack", nouns like "guest" rather than "visitor", adjectives like "courteous" instead of "polite". His versions of Beowulf's voyage to Heorot in prose and verse, the latter in strictest Anglo-Saxon alliteration and metre[c] (with Tolkien's markup of metrical stresses), are:
Tolkien's high-sounding language, meant to echo the Beowulf poet's diction:
1. Beowulf 217-227 2. Tolkien's 1940 verse in "On Translating Beowulf"[d][37] 3. Tolkien's 1926 prose (176–185) in Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary[38]
1.
Gewat þa ofer wǣgholm | winde gefysed
flota famiheals | fugle gelicost,
oð þæt ymb antid | oþres dogores
wundenstefna | gewaden hæfde,
þæt ða liðende | land gesawon,
brimclifu blican, | beorgas steape,
side sænæssas; | þa wæs sund liden,
eoletes æt ende. | þanon up hraðe
Wedera lēode | on wang stigon,
sæwudu sældon,— | syrcan hrysedon,
guðgewædo;
2.
She wènt then over wáve-tòps, | wínd pursúed her,
fléet, fóam-thròated | like a flýing bírd;
and her cúrving prów | on its cóurse wáded,
till in dúe séason | on the dáy áfter
those séafàrers | sáw befóre them
shóre-cliffs shímmering | and shéer móuntains,
wíde cápes by the wáves: | to wáter's énd
the shíp had jóurneyed. | Then ashóre swíftly
they léaped to lánd, | lórds of Góthland,
bóund fást their bóat. | Their býrnies ráttled,
grím géar of wár.
3.
Over the waves of the deep she went sped by the wind,
sailing with foam at throat most like unto a bird,
until in due hour upon the second day her curving beak
had made such way that those sailors saw the land,
the cliffs beside the ocean gleaming,
and sheer headlands and capes thrust far to sea.
Then for that sailing ship the journey was at an end.
thence the men of the Windloving folk climbed swiftly up the beach,
and made fast the sea-borne timbers of their ship;
their mail-shirts they shook, their raiment of war.
— Wiki - Translating Beowulf
Aesthetic appreciation often gets left out of life, especially in news. There is so much emphasis on sensation with bad news. I don't have a television but see news on the phone and it frequently lowers my mood. Watching such news can even be addictive. — Jack Cummins
I always try to read a novel with my morning coffees as it seems to get me in the right frame of mind to cope with the dramas of the day. I do see life as like a novel unfolding. On a negative side, that may be why I attract negative dramas. Another way of seeing this though is to be able to frame the negative dramas in a creative way as being part of a mythic quest. — Jack Cummins
I do see life as like a novel unfolding. On a negative side, that may be why I attract negative dramas. Another way of seeing this though is to be able to frame the negative dramas in a creative way as being part of a mythic quest. — Jack Cummins
Vance, the Ohio senator, has faced a backlash for a clip in which he called several prominent Democrats - including Harris - "a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives". He recently said his comments were "sarcastic".
Swift went on to compliment Harris's choice of vice-presidential candidate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who she said had been "been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman's right to her own body for decades".
The singer said she was in part motivated to share her voting decision with the public after an AI image of her falsely endorsing Trump was posted on his website.
"It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation," she said. "It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter." — BBC News - Taylor Swift endorses Harris
On the surface, little appears to have changed in the 30 years that bestselling author Peter May has been visiting the Isle of Lewis. But tourism has had a big impact – from Sunday opening hours to a deep water port for cruise ships — Guardian - Scotland holidays
While aestheticization of life is not a new phenomenon, what is noteworthy in the so-called organizational aesthetics and artification strategy is that they deploy art and art-like ways of thinking and acting in those areas of life which have not been traditionally associated with art or aesthetics: medicine, business, education, sports, and science, among others, as well as organizational life in general (Darsø 2004; Naukkarinen and Saito 2012; Ratiu 2017b). These professional practices typically privilege rational discourse comprised of logic and rules, but they cannot ignore their aesthetic dimensions. — SEP - Aesthetics of the Everyday
Trump supporter Elon Musk, known to be the father of 12 children, posted on his social-media platform X (formerly Twitter): "Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life." — BBC News - Taylor Swift endorses Harris
Chris O'Sullivan asserts that acts of sexism are commonly employed to validate and rationalize normative misogynistic practices. For instance, sexist jokes may be told to foster disrespect for women and an accompanying disregard for their well-being, or a rape victim might be blamed for being raped because of how she dressed or acted. O'Sullivan examines rape culture and fraternities, identifying the socialization and social roles that contribute to sexual aggression, and looks at "frat life" and brotherhood ideals of competition and camaraderie. In these groups, sex is viewed by young men as a tool of gaining acceptance and bonding with fellow "brothers", as they engage in contests over sex with women.[36]: 26 In O'Sullivan's article, sexualized violence towards women is regarded as part of a continuum in a society that regards women's bodies as sexually available by default.[3 — Wiki - Rape culture
Christine Blasey Ford, the psychology professor who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, used a rare interview to detail the trauma she faced after her explosive allegations thrust her into a charged confirmation battle for one of the nation’s most powerful positions...
Kavanaugh was narrowly confirmed and has since become a key voice on the Supreme Court – a sometimes-harbinger of which way its conservative 6-3 supermajority is leaning on controversial issues like abortion, guns and affirmative action. — CNN - Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford - consequences of testimony
The other side to this though can be how mood itself affects aesthetics. I find that the whole world seems to look different according to state out of mind. People don't seem to speak of this often and I wonder whether they notice such differences. If I am going to create art or write fiction the first priority is getting into the right state of consciousness. — Jack Cummins
I feel so gloomy and I often go out on busses to look out of the window and daydream. — Jack Cummins
Though the Bodies Fall by Noel O’Regan centres on trauma and its aftermath. The protagonist, Micheál Burnes, resides in his family’s bungalow at the end of Kerry Head in Ireland, a picturesque location with cliffs notoriously known as a suicide spot. With an evocative sense of place, the novel describes a familial inheritance where, for three generations, Micheál’s family has felt a duty to guard the area and save the souls of those seeking eternal relief there. From a young age, Micheál is taught by his mother to assist the so-called “visitors,” making it a life mission and a spiritual calling.
Now, mobile phones are the new distraction or even a source for imaginative searching. Texts and emails feature in novels so much. — Jack Cummins
Perhaps not much of a hero worshipper? — Amity
Interesting to compare. For a quick understanding of the story, perhaps prose is better. It's more direct and not so much of a puzzle. However, it loses something of the compactness and the alliteration and kennings pulled me in at the start: — Amity
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. I suppose I was waiting for that question about metaphysical intuition to stop rattling around in my subconscious. — wonderer1
I'm certainly a hero appreciator, but I suppose not much of a worshipper in general. — wonderer1
It is so interesting and mysterious, the effect that poetic elements seem to have on us. — wonderer1
I once got the following response to a sentence I had written on another forum, "Something about that sentence just makes it feel awesome when you read it out loud, especially the ending. Nice use of words wonderer." — wonderer1
I had to look at what I had written to figure out that it was probably a matter of the alliteration, which it seems my subconscious had managed to work into the sentence, while consciously I was struggling to express something semantically complex in a succinct way, with no conscious consideration of how it would sound.
Long story short... I like alliteration as well, perhaps more than I know. : — wonderer1
Anyway, back to metaphysical imagination...
I've come to the conclusion that I am intuitively epistemologically opposed to compartmentalizing imagination in such a way that it would make any sense to me to say, "This is metaphysical imagination and this is not." I suppose I see an important part of imagination as being a way of escaping the ruts of unimaginative thinking, and calling some imagination "metaphysical" seems likely to create the sort of boundaries to my thinking that I seek to escape via imagination. — wonderer1
Of course, you are welcome to inspire me to look at things differently — wonderer1
As you and others are welcome to inspire me! :cool: — Amity
I was told by an old, and now sadly late friend and phenomenally successful writer, that every writer and aspiring writer should read every day; not just books that they enjoy, but ones that they would otherwise pass by on the other side off the road. This advice seems to be shared among other writers I know through my work.
I was also told to write what you want to read. This may seem like an obvious statement, but for a follower of romantic fiction to try writing a bloody crime thriller may not be wise. Richard Adams [Watership Down] said he could never write a human story, so he didn’t, and he stuck with what he was comfortable with. The book was rejected by many publishers, but was eventually taken up by one and, as they say, the rest is history.
Whatever you do, write every day; make time to be alone or wherever you are comfortable, but write. J K Rowling said to Jealously Protect your Writing Days, Neil Gaiman has a policy of going down to his writing shed with no tech, no 'phone signal and no distractions, and says to himself, “You don’t have to write. You have permission to not write, but you don’t have permission to do anything else.” Dame Jacquline Wilson can write anywhere from her kitchen table to the back of a taxi – I suspect she is an exception.
Above all, write, and write every day. Be it 1,000 or 2,000 words of your book; be it a diary entry; be it a description of a spider crawling across your wall, or a spring sparrow singing outside your window, but write. Writing isn't a muscle, but it behaves like one - if it doesn't get used, it starts to get weak and needs re-strengthening; it is best to keep it active.
All day, every day I think as I am going about life - sometimes it will be about describing how someone is crossing a road - the waiting and watching for a space, the light semi-jog over or the I-have-a-Right-and-You-Will-Wait crosser; how the sound of a closing car door behind you after you pass it could be sinister [how would you describe that on paper?]; an autumnal leaf falling from a tree in the cold weather to form a pile on the ground, and what may be living in the leaf-litter... the list is endless. My mind never stops working.
Never stop thinking about writing. Never stop planning openings - even if you never go further with that story. Write 200, 400 or 600 word pieces to keep the muscle strong, and make sure you stick to the exact number to practise on-the-fly editing. Think about planning, but don't obsess – neither Lee Child or Stephen King plan. They start with a vague idea and with the first word hoping the next follows. Agatha Christie planned, and planned and planned for months, and then she wrote, and she 'wrote' her books in as little as a month - but only after months of planning for hours each day. Try both methods and see how they suit you.
To close, it is a simple process, and a quick look in any bookshop or supermarket, and a glance through any of the popular books will show you that not all work published is of a high literary standard, but it has been published. There is skill, there is perseverance, and there is a very large dollop of luck.
One final thought – no self-respecting writer or would be writer [indeed, if you have ever written with the intention of publication, in my mind, you are already a writer] will ever be without a notebook and pen or pencil. A simple reporters’ note book and a cheap ballpoint [do try and avoid the plastic disposable ones… we have far too much plastic litter on the planet] will work just as well as an expensive book and a Mont Blanc fountain pen, and they attract far less attention in the coffee shop or café, or on the packed 7:45 commuter train.
There, 700 words in a matter of minutes and now to make my wife a warm cup of Lucozade to sooth her angry throat. — Sallycycles
I used to love the TV series Ballykissangel, in which the village was possibly the best character.I've read that setting is important when writing a novel. Indeed, it can be seen as a character. — Amity
I just came in here for a brief respite from fighting over animal intelligence. — Vera Mont
I pay attention to the details of setting; consider it important not to have lily of the valley blooming in September or long shadows at 1pm or a piano in a poor man's cottage, and of course, I had to put quite a lot of details in the manor where a quasi historical romance took place. But I had not considered the location very important until I attempted SF. — Vera Mont
Do you know how much research and meticulous planning goes into inventing a planet? Damn real, it becomes a character: it haunts your dreams for months on end. — Vera Mont
Writing stories is one of the ways I keep sane. World-building takes a lot of time and thought, but there is something quite magical in immersing oneself in an imaginary place, climate, scenery, culture, inventing people, dwellings, food crops... You get to be a deity of sorts. My OG chivvied me into writing a sequel, because he wanted to live in Ozimord again.I don't know how you keep sane! Of course, you could get AI or that chatty person to help out - perhaps even write the story for you?! — Amity
I just came in here for a brief respite from fighting over animal intelligence. — Vera Mont
Do you know how much research and meticulous planning goes into inventing a planet? Damn real, it becomes a character: it haunts your dreams for months on end. — Vera Mont
The hardest part for me is language. I needed a large dry and a smaller wet planet that humans could colonize and where they would develop differently. What would they live on? What seeds would they have brought from Earth and what local fauna and flora would they have adapted? Every one of those items needs a name that relates back to an earth language but has changed over time. And the characters have to use these words in natural conversation.Are there any particular aspects of creating a planet that stand out? — wonderer1
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