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Saturday, June 10, 2006

Tor-ist

DM Thomas' memories of the last night in the life of William Golding got me wondering about what it might mean to be a Cornish writer. I can think of only one in addition to Thomas and Golding themselves: the unlikable AL Rowse. They do seem a rum bunch. I think Colin Wilson lives there too. But then again, it is a strange place. I spent a lot of time there as a child and have always felt it was a kind of genetic home. My surname derives from micel moor, large moor, perhaps Bodmin. Shouldn't I be writing multi-volume sword and scorcery novels?

But now I discover that the moor is most probably Dartmoor, which is in Devon. So that's a relief. Can't be doing with all that magic and myth. Give me a boggy wasteland any day.
at 8:56 am

4 comments:

  1. Tim F9:49 am

    Charles Causley?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:01 pm

    Causley? - good call for cornwall.
    More Dorset then devon - Thomas Hardy.
    Ted Hughes - Moortown - written on dartmoor.
    As for sword and socercy - yep - there's alot around here. Infact Alan Lee who illustrated Tolkien about 12 years ago lives on dartmoor.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:14 pm

    Does it count if you just live in Devon, or do you have to be born there?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stephen Mitchelmore3:21 pm

    I'm not sure what counts. Ted Hughes was a Yorkshireman so I can't see him being classed as a West Country author. I didn't know Moortown was written where it was. Mind you, I've never liked his poetry enough to find that out.

    Alan Lee sounds more the kind I'd expect to live there. While I feel an affinity with the place, I don't feel any with the literature.

    I seem to remember reading about publishers being very wary of unsolicited manuscripts with a Cornish postmark!

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