“The healing power of art is not a rhetorical fantasy. Fighting to keep language, language became my sanity and my strength. It still is, and I know of no pain that art cannot assuage. For some, music, for some, pictures, for me, primarily, poetry, whether found in poems or in prose, cuts through the noise and the hurt, opens the wound to clean it, and then gradually teaches it to heal itself. Wounds need to be taught to heal themselves.” - Jeanette Winterson (from the essay Art & Life).
Jeanette Winterson is the author of many novels, including Art & Lies, The Powerbook, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and many more. The above quote comes from her book of essays Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery.
JeanetteW iis my favorite current author. For me, the re-incarnation of Virginia Woolf. Utterly brilliant and always poetic, such authors transcend their genres and make life worth living.
Thank you for inlcuding her on your always fine posts.
Best,
Tim Woods
timwoods.us
Author of ‘Beth’s Book.’
Tim, Jeanette Winterson has been one of my favorite authors for many many years!
Ingrid,
I just re-read, ‘Art & Lies,’ and enjoyed even more than the first time. It was my maiden voyage with Jeanette.
I’ve read perhaps half her novels, so have a lot of great reading to look forward to.
Other favorites: ‘Lighthouse Keeping,’ ‘Sexing The Cherry,’ and ‘Art Objects.’
What a gift she is to us English readers.
Best,
TimW
Now I know about Jeanette Winterson. You are a great resource, Ingrid, Many thanks for your consistently great taste.