Roger Wood's Writing Blog
Hello
I'm Roger Wood, a four-time graduate of three English universities. I have a PhD in Drama. I worked in the professional theatre, had plays broadcast, then got politically active, serving the community as a local politician, advice centre manager, and justice.
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Now I write and I paint. I still sit in court but no longer give a damn about politics. I've also kind of overdosed on the drama thing.
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I've written a dozen or so dark fiction stories which are available for free on Smashwords and Draft2Digital. Now I've written three essays about English country prose in its heyday round about 1900. These are available for pre-order on Kindle and will publish together on September 16 2024.
Pre-order on Kindle.
Publication day Monday September 16
Each essay is fully annotated and includes a bibliography of academic standard.
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James Ashcroft Noble (1844-96) tends to be remembered only as the mentor and future father in law of the essayist, war poet and critic Edward Thomas. This essay demonstrates he was much more. By examining Noble's work we are able to trace a direct link between Edward Thomas and the Scots poet Alexander Smith, once incredibly famous, now forgotten.
On Good Friday 1913 Edward Thomas set off from London in pursuit of spring. The places he passes through remind him of other country writers who influenced his work. In this essay we take things a step further. Who influenced those who influenced Thomas? Who was first?
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Richard Jefferies (1848-87) was a huge influence on the young Edward Thomas. In 1908 Thomas wrote his biography. But Thomas struggled to come to terms with one of Jefferies' books, 'The Story of My Heart.' When Jefferies was 18 he had a revelation in the countryside around Swindon, another in central London, and a third as he was dying near Brighton. Jefferies made his own religion and envisaged a life force greater than God.
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