Dark Angels Note 133

Dearest Friends—
Welcome back to our weekly Friday Note. 

Observing

This week marks the birthday of American novelist Gertrude Stein (3 February 1874 - 27 July 1946). Friends with Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, Stein was synonymous with the Paris art scene in the early 1900s and introduced the artists to one another at one of her weekly salons. Living on the left bank, she frequented the original Shakespeare & Company, a bookstore and lending library, where she rubbed shoulders with James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. 

Reading

In April 1912, Stein had sent a manuscript for The Making of Americans to a publisher in London.Read the letter of rejection that she received in return: ‘I am only one only one only one’ on Letters of Note. 

Writing

Gertrude and her brother Leo collected many works of art that adorned her home's walls on the Rue de Fleurus.Choose a painting or photograph from one of your home's walls or a gallery. Try writing in response to the image. What do you see? What don’t you see? What does that lead you to understand about the scene? 

Sharing

Keep sending us your poems, writings, links and writerly whatnots that you’d like to share with the wider Dark Angels family. 

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Diary

Hearts, Inspired, 16-21 June 2023
Join us for a 5-day writing retreat on Whidbey Island, in the US Pacific Northwest. We’ll explore writing, creativity and inspiration through guided writing, personal projects and time in nature.Find out more here. 

Save the Date: Words Are Seeds, 19-23 June 2023
Five days of writing, rituals and nature connection at Bore Place over the summer solstice. We’re expecting a lively, stimulating and playful experience, with plenty of time for individual pondering, wondering and wandering – and writing. No commitment is needed yet, but we’d love to pencil you in. Register your interest by dropping Susanne a quick email. Find out more here. 

Weekly Tuesday Gatherings
Join us for a reflective hour of reading, writing and communing led by Neil Baker. Everyone is welcome; in fact, invite a friend along. We meet at 7pm UK time. To join us, click here on the night. There’s no need to register in advance and we’ll be using the same link every week from now on. Be well, keep reading, keep writing and know that we’re always here.

From everyone at Dark Angels