Side project update

I’ve finished going through my grandmother’s poetry and have selected fifteen poems to go into the published collection. This should not use more than one printed signature (from Oxford Dictionaries online: a printed sheet which has been folded to form a group of pages), depending on the eventual page size, so printing costs should not be too steep.

My main task now is to transcribe the selected poems as electronic documents; since one or two poems have multiple subtly different versions, and all of them are hand-written, this may not be so easy a task as it may first appear.

Yesterday was called the Feast of Crispian…

… so it seemed somewhat logical to watch Henry V (Hollow Crown version).

I personally really like the St Crispin’s Day speech. It never fails to cheer me up and it’s probably one of the greatest rousing speeches in English literature. That said, Henry V is at least as open to ‘war is hell’ interpretations as it is to ‘war is glorious’ interpretations, so that would understandably influence one’s stance on the iconic rousing speeches.

More Shakespearean musings

I’ve been having a ‘Hollow Crown’ marathon recently (as one does), and this time through I’ve been noticing the language a lot more.

It’s rather enjoyable to try composing modern-English summaries of the speeches in one’s head, and trying to spot within the dialogue idioms which are familiar in today’s speech is fun in its own right.

The works of Shakespeare are a treasure trove for lovers of language 🙂

Musing on Shakespeare

I’ve been re-watching the Hollow Crown series this week, and there’s something that I’ve only just consciously noticed:

It can be pretty hard to watch a Shakespeare play without wanting to mouth along to some of the speeches. Mowbray’s banishment speech and John of Gaunt’s “…this sceptred isle…” (both from Richard II) come particularly to mind in this connection — there’s something especially gripping about the cadence of the language and the emotions being portrayed.

The incredible acting on display in the Hollow Crown productions does not hurt at all. ^^

Side project

As a side project to give me some practice in editorial skills, I am sorting through my late grandmother’s poetry with a view to publishing a selection of the best poems.

There are a lot of poems to go through — a hefty folder’s worth — but it is an interesting task. Some poems are poignant, some are short and witty, but they are all good demonstrations of what the English language can do.

I started this project today, and have already found four or five poems on loose pages to go into the ‘publish’ pile. I also found an exercise book with more poems, the examination of which will be tomorrow’s task. I look forward to it. ^_^

This is the business website of Susan Albinson, a freelance proofreader and independent artist based in the West Midlands. See my About page for more information on how I work. See the links below for specific details relating to contacting and working with me.

As of November 2021, I now also offer a sensitivity/inclusion reading service for manuscripts relating to autism. This involves reading through a document and giving an honest assessment of how well it handles/portrays autism and autism-related matters, as well as offering advice for improvement in these areas where necessary. If your book would benefit from this service, please do get in touch!

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