The last week has been so busy. On top of our Rose Tremain visit, I chaired the Q&A with lovely Eleanor Catton, and had another workshop with Margaret Atwood. I don’t have much to add to my previous reports apart from the fact that she turned her attention to my work and deemed it:
a very good first chapter
Yeah, read that back over. A very good first chapter, huh? Now read it again. Now play it cool.
I was delighted: I’d been fully prepared for her to dismantle the thing in front of me until I burst into tears, but it went really well. She took the story seriously and helped me figure out a few knotty logistics. There are still issues, obviously, but I think they are mainly structural and I have been blessed with an excellent dissertation supervisor who might be able to help me on that front. Mostly her feedback made me feel that I’ve not misjudged this project, it’s something I have stuck with for good reason and will continue to stick with. I felt very lucky.
And then there was Eleanor Catton! Continue reading