15 Comments

Love it! Thank you again for the time and effort you put into constructing these posts. They are imbued with a pragmatic aesthetic in the breadth of academic and creative content, not just in the “lesson,” but also in the substantive quality and quantity of the links. And of course your own passion for the topic always shines through. I’m this post, I really appreciated the notion of white space or negative space in literature being contemplated as part of narrative layering. I’m often reminded while I work on my own writing that the reader provides a negative space with their own background and interpretations, and less can be so much more when a thinking reader can feel personal connections in the blank areas left by the author for exploration and catharsis (if the author and reader are both lucky!). Thank you as always!

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I really like this idea of the writer's own negative space as well, perhaps Lacanian in nature? And yes, I guess it leaves room for the reader to sort of place themselves or their experiences/ideas into that empty space. Nicely extended here, Brian.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments that add to the discourse and your appreciation. I've really enjoyed in this series taking a while with research / notes / rumination and then just going for it and seeing what comes out of my mouth. It's more like teaching, I guess, than writing.

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Amazing yet again Kate. I can't comprehend the work and research and effort you put into these. And all for "nothing" this time ;)

I'm often most interested in what goes unsaid in literature. The exploration of negative and absent space was excellent and enlightening.

Kate ("Kae" now, I believe) Tempest is an incredible musician. Their linguistic and musical ability is incredible. I've listened to the album "Everybody down" so many times. It's so intricate and layered.

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Oh my gosh, I am so behind - yes KAE. They are incredible.

Here's the recording I mentioned https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv5fggapRwQ

Thank you for such a lovely comment, Nathan! To be honest, these podcasts have been super fun but also burnt me out a bit 😅 It was an intense experience haha. A lot of the time spent is stuff I've considered over the years, but putting ideas together and investigating more has been wonderfully rewarding. I'm considering doing some shorter versions in the future. However, I did not start with a plan to record hour-long episodes; it just occurred naturally as the ideas evolved. Let's see.

All for nothing!! :)

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Thanks for the link. So impressive. Such a unique, spoken poetry style of rap.

I'm not surprised if there's some burnout. These are huge endeavours, but you've enriched us with your knowledge in the process. Make sure you take some downtime as needed though!

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💙💙🙏🏽

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Another blinder. Thank you so much for these

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Thanks for listening, Jon!

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Thank you Kate, another immensely informative episode. It made me think that the idea of "nothingness" is a paradox, since it can be incredibly potent. It is sometimes our own relationship with what we deem "nothing", the way we perceive our world, that makes us call it that. (I think I know what I mean! 😆)

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Absolutely a paradox, yes! Don't think I mentioned that word at all but really should have because it is at the heart of the ideas. And thank YOU for listening and all your ideas, Jules. :)

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It's such a pleasure and an education to listen, Kate. These posts expand my horizons and introduce ideas that are so stimulating. Your podcasts are invaluable from the point of view of helping people with their writing, but also so much more than that. Thank you.

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This is so encouraging and helps me think about what I'll record in the (near) future...

Thanks again!

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Big fan of negative space, I think it shows in many of my photographs. Sometimes when framing you deliberately only see the negative space, what could be, what isn't, the breathing room for ideas to be born, to develop and thrive, same with the writing. Excellent, Kate, and again with a wealth of material to dig deeper. Love it!

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Thanks for your comment and the photographer’s perspective, Alexander! Interesting idea for writing: to first imagine the negative space, the absence, and fill in the rest with language. Hmm. Very cool idea and a tweak on the concept.

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Maybe a bit abstract but it's that not knowing what may emerge that fascinates. ;)

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