Author of Kingdom of the Clock, Grotesque Tenderness, The God of Doors | Contributing Editor @newversereview | devoted husband of @emilyasbjorn
British Columbia
Joined March 2014
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Some reviews of Kingdom of the Clock make it sound pretty good!
Kingdom of the Clock, my novel in verse about contemporary urban living, is finally for sale.
The first pages are attached for curious cats; for those worthies who want to read on, go to the library, send me a DM, or: amazon.com/Kingdom-Clock-Nov…
Daniel Cowper retweeted
It’s hard to imagine the effort that went into this good literary deed, this unexpected gift to readers and writers. Fills one with gratitude and hope.
colophont.com/profile/borisd…
Waugh used the setting of a storm at sea for a love scene in Brideshead; in my opinion, an unforgettable sequence.
(In the revisions he made to Brideshead in 1959, he marred the climactic passage, perhaps embarrassed by the intensity on display in the original.)
Evelyn Waugh, #BOTD (28 October 1903), satirical description of a Channel crossing, from “Vile Bodies”
Somewhat neglected among Waugh’s work is one of the most perfect novels ever written, A Handful of Dust.
Emily and my mom indulged me in a round of Who Wrote That, while I opened my presents. Perhaps you’d like to play along at home?
There’s a story, told by Martin Amis, I believe, that Philip Larkin never gave gifts to anyone at all for any reason except on one extraordinary occasion, when he gave copies of of Stevie Smith’s “Not Waving But Drowning” to everyone he knew.
One miracle performed by Jane Austen is how effortlessly she makes you privy to the interiority of her characters. Only a few pages in, she's making you laugh or grit your teeth by inviting you to imagine how a character she's spent 200 words on would react to a new situation.
It’s easy to take Jane Austen for granted because we live in the world that she created. We struggle to see how groundbreaking and innovative her novels are because they set the template for all modern fiction. Pride & Prejudice, to cite the most obvious example, did more than invent a genre. Anyone who now writes a story in which two people fall in love is either inspired by her or reacting against her. She’s like Tolkien in that sense.
But she did much more than that. She perfected a method of narration known as “free indirect discourse” that’s now used by virtually every writer. You have only to read the novels of pre-Austen writers to see what a tremendous difference she made through her use of this technique. Literary scholar John Mullan argues that Emma launched a revolution in form & technique that’s comparable to the innovations of Joyce and Proust. It is the favorite novel of Susanna Clarke and of Katherine Rundell, who calls it “a book that shows as much of the sweep of the human heart, of fear, love, morality, untruth, foolery and triumph as a Shakespearean drama.” It is also, arguably, the novel that invented the mystery genre, having what J. K. Rowling has called the biggest twist in literature. You don’t notice the greatness of Austen for the same reason a fish doesn’t know that it lives in water.
Spoke with a woman today who has been terribly sick for a month. She told me she watched Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility 19 times over the stretch.
Muzzleloader season!!! Of all the topics for a poem, one I never thought I'd see in the real world.
Thanks to @newversereview for publishing "Muzzleloader Season." Here's the beginning, click on the link to read the whole thing. @NHfishandgame newversereview.com/issue-3-4…
Vladimir Nabokov once referred to Dostoevsky as “author of The Double and other works.”
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde came out 4 years before Picture of Dorian Grey, but I’ve just now discovered Dostoyevsky wrote a novella on the theme of dual identity as well called The Double that came out prior to either…friends, is this a good autumn read?? I just finished Jekyll and Hyde and it was great fall reading
Daniel Cowper retweeted
Just got my MS consultation back from @AlexRettie. 100% worth your money. Poets, pay this fellow.
Daniel Cowper retweeted
"[A] great work of art demands great labour. It wants fussiness, obsessiveness, struggle. It wastes time, not water—a rebuke to our optimization overlords."
Wrote about AI and writing for @thewalrus. Link in the basement.
Daniel Cowper retweeted
One of my favorite poems I've written. I was deeply moved by Rhina Espaillat's comments on it at the reading.
You watch—it’s more than time you tell. You’ve taught
me how to spring ahead, though I fall back;
to wind against the wind by changing tack;
that bearings must be smooth; that seas are not;
@DanielGalef
plough.com/articles/john-har…
He’s trying to help you!
Sorry to vaguetweet, but I got news today that makes me think it would be a good idea for poets to submit to the upcoming issue of @PoemsforPOI rather than waiting for the next time around. Just do it!
pfpoi.blogspot.com/p/submiss…
The funny thing about poetry, and the arts generally, is that two great poems, totalling 679 lines of verse, are sufficient to establish immortality.
Daniel Cowper retweeted
We have something special today at NVR--@Poochigian introduces two new Propertius translations from @amjuster.
