Tag Archives: Margaret Atwood

2018: A Year of Reading: The Nerd Bit

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

“With such wishes for the New Year as still seem possible” ~ C.S. Lewis to his father from the trenches in France during WWI “Is there any point in wishing each other a happy New Year? Well, yes, I suppose … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, fantasy, Goodreads, H.P. Lovecraft, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Margaret Atwood, Narnia, Octavia E. Butler, Reading, Science Fiction, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, William Gibson | 24 Comments

What Counts as a Classic? A Conversation with C.S. Lewis and Goodreads

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a little post called “Reading and the Cultural Moment, with C.S. Lewis.” Though I now think I could have said it even clearer, I was sharing once again C.S. Lewis’ critical idea that … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged 1984, A Wrinkle in Time, Animal Farm, C.S. Lewis, George Orwell, Goodreads, Jane Eyre, lion the witch and the wardrobe, Margaret Atwood, Narnia, Netflix, Old Books, On the Reading of Old Books, Terry Pratchett, The Handmaid's Tale, The Hobbit | 41 Comments

Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven: A Brilliant Apocalypse with an Almost Fatal Flaw (Part 1)

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

From Mary Shelley to Margaret Atwood, I have a deep interest in women’s sf and speculative fiction. It is not just a question of perspective and hearing other voices. Rather, it simply that some of my favourite writers are in … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian literature, On Writing, Reviews | Tagged Canadian literature, Emily St. John Mandel, epistolary fiction, J.K. Rowling, Madeleine L'Engle, Margaret Atwood, Nalo Hopkinson, Octavia Butler, Science Fiction, speculative fiction, Station Eleven, Ursula K. Le Guin | 5 Comments

A Weekend of Reading to Change Your Literary Life

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

If you are like me, you have spent much of your adult life as a reader catching up on a severe lack of education. It is common that I am out with friends and when the topic of books comes … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Arthur C. Clarke, Charles Williams, Charlotte Brontë, Goethe, H.P. Lovecraft, Isaac Asimov, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Kurt Vonnegut, L.M. Montgomery, Margaret Atwood, Reading, Shakespeare, Stephen King, Terry Pratchett, Virginia Woolf, William Morris | 23 Comments

“A Novelist’s Business is Lying”: A Farewell to Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-2018)

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I have just heard that Ursula K. Le Guin has passed away. I could be humble about my opinion, but I want to impress upon you that she is one of our very greatest imaginative writers of the last 50 … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing | Tagged Arha, C.S. Lewis, Earthsea, fantasy, feminism, gender, Harry Potter, homosexuality, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Margaret Atwood, Narnia, Science Fiction, sex, The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin | 20 Comments

Literature, Film, and Technoculture Class at Signum University (Starts Tuesday)

Posted on January 13, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I wanted to announce this great SignumU live course starting next week. I have the pleasure of being the “Preceptor” for this lecture series by Dr. Chad Andrews. This science fiction-centred course counts toward the Imaginative Literature concentration, though many … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged 12 Monkeys, Brian Aldiss, District 9, J.G. Ballard, James Tiptree, Jr., Leslie F. Stone, literature, Margaret Atwood, Octavia E. Butler, research, RoboCop, Science Fiction, SciFi, SF, Signum University, Starship Troopers, Technoculture, WALL-E, William Gibson | 7 Comments

2017: A Year of Reading

Posted on January 8, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a … Continue reading →