Democracy by James Kirchick

7 August 2017

Democracy by James Kirchick

Staring at me from the desk in my bedroom at Gladstone’s Library during my recent residency was a postcard inscribed with a bit of the namesake’s wisdom: 

Liberalism is trust of the people tempered by prudence. Conservatism is distrust of the people tempered by fear. 

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Things I learned while not editing my novel by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

7 August 2017

Things I learned while not editing my novel by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan

I met my first Wikipedia surfer, almost 10 years ago. It was my first year at university. The polo-shirted boy explained that he spent hours clicking link after link. It wasted days of his life, he said and smiled. Back in my dorm, tucked into my duvet, I settled in with Wikipedia. I clicked a link. I read for a while, and then stopped. The site seemed useful, but I wasn’t entranced by the hyperlink pathway.

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Gladfest interview: Louisa Young

7 August 2017

Gladfest interview: Louisa Young

Louisa Young was born in London and educated there and at Cambridge University. She was a freelance journalist for many years, including for the Guardian, Marie-Claire and the motorcycle magazine, Bike. An interview with Johnny Cash led to the realisation that she couldn’t be a journalist any more, and she moved into fiction, biography, history, and recently, songwriting. Her first book was a biography of her grandmother Kathleen Scott, sculptor and widow of Captain Scott of the Antarctic, who lived in the house where Peter Pan was written, and in which Louisa grew up with five siblings and six cousins. 

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Gladfest interview: Kate Hamer

20 July 2017

Gladfest interview: Kate Hamer

Kate Hamer grew up in Pembrokeshire and, after studying art, worked in television for over 10 years, mainly on documentaries. Her debut novel, The Girl in the Red Coat, was published by Faber & Faber in February 2015 and has sold in eight other territories. Kate won the Rhys Davies short story prize in 2011 and the story One Summer was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She has also had work published in short story anthologies such as A Fiction Map of Wales and Seren’s New Welsh Short Stories. She lives in Cardiff with her husband. 

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Work Experience by Olivia Jones

14 July 2017

Work Experience by Olivia Jones

Starting my Work Experience at Gladstone’s Library, I was given an introduction and tour of the library itself as well as the collections. Within the library are the History and Theology Rooms plus the Annex. After I was shown around, I helped to open the Reading Rooms and then carried out circulation of the books as well as reshelving them.

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Work Experience by Harriet Lewis-Wilson

14 July 2017

Work Experience by Harriet Lewis-Wilson

The first day of my Work Experience at Gladstone’s Library incorporated a range of tasks that helped me get familiar with the library itself. I was introduced to the helpful, friendly staff and Interns who then showed me what I needed to do to open up the library which included turning on lights and checking the books were in the right place. 

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Gladfest interview: Dan Richards

13 July 2017

Gladfest interview: Dan Richards

Dan Richards was born in Wales in 1982 and grew up in Bristol. He has studied at UEA and Norwich Arts School. Dan is the co-author of Holloway with Robert Macfarlane and Stanley Donwood, published by Faber in 2013. The Beechwood Airship Interviews, a book about the creative process and the importance of art for art’s sake, was published by The Friday Project / HarperCollins in 2015.

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“It’s a mere nonsense”: Gladstone’s Homeric Age

23 June 2017

“It’s a mere nonsense”: Gladstone’s Homeric Age

‘Looked into my papers on Homer: & I am strongly tempted to undertake something…’ wrote Gladstone on 7th July 1855, unaware that that ‘something’ would occupy his thoughts for much of the next three years. What began as a small project to be completed while out of office grew to a three volume work: Homer and the Homeric Age (1858).

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Work Experience by Kate Robertson

14 June 2017

Work Experience by Kate Robertson

This morning I helped to open up the library and start the circulation process, which meant that I had to use the Heritage Online software and the Cirqaclient software. 

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Interview: Genesis Redux with Lyn Bechtel

13 June 2017

Interview: Genesis Redux with Lyn Bechtel

Lyn Bechtel is a feminist Hebrew Bible scholar. 

Over the week of 26th – 30th June, Lyn leads a course at Gladstone’s Library entitled ‘Genesis Redux’. The course examines three disturbing stories from the Book of Genesis which represent a theology that is foundational to the theology of Jesus; Deuteronomic theology. These stories are Lot and his Daughters (Genesis. 19), Dinah and Shechem (Genesis. 34) and Tamar and Judah (Genesis. 38).

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