Adrian May – författare

Myths and Heroes in Creative Writing: Re-Reading and Remaking offers a comprehensive overview of myth throughout history. Exploring a variety of forms, Adrian May provides a framework for the practice and process of writing myths.This accessible guide discusses a rich and diverse range of literary examples across myth, theatre, poetry and criticism to make a clear and compelling case for a reimagining of the epic and heroic. It celebrates the depth and subtlety of myth and its ability to overcome clichés, while offering essential advice on plotting, editing and retelling classical myths. It features practical advice and exercises for a complete writing experience.Inspiring creativity and advancing comprehension, this book is for anyone interested in the creative use of myth. This includes writers, artists and all who seek to see beyond the surface of things and gain new insights into mythology.

Myths and Heroes in Creative Writing: Re-Reading and Remaking offers a comprehensive overview of myth throughout history. Exploring a variety of forms, Adrian May provides a framework for the practice and process of writing myths.This accessible guide discusses a rich and diverse range of literary examples across myth, theatre, poetry and criticism to make a clear and compelling case for a reimagining of the epic and heroic. It celebrates the depth and subtlety of myth and its ability to overcome clichés, while offering essential advice on plotting, editing and retelling classical myths. It features practical advice and exercises for a complete writing experience.Inspiring creativity and advancing comprehension, this book is for anyone interested in the creative use of myth. This includes writers, artists and all who seek to see beyond the surface of things and gain new insights into mythology.

In this engaging guide, teacher, poet and lyricist Adrian May shows how magic is a tool used by writers to generate creativity, where concepts of magic are seen as portals of creative power. This unique book features approachable chapters on aspects of magic and writing - such as the Tarot and the creative methods of W. B. Yeats. Blending literary criticism with practical exercises, this text will enable readers to understand the magical nature of creative writing, giving them a sense of wider possibilities and equipping them to improve their creative writing.This an ideal resource for undergraduate or postgraduate students taking courses on Creative Writing, as well as established or budding writers working independently.

In this engaging guide, teacher, poet and lyricist Adrian May shows how magic is a tool used by writers to generate creativity, where concepts of magic are seen as portals of creative power. This unique book features approachable chapters on aspects of magic and writing - such as the Tarot and the creative methods of W. B. Yeats. Blending literary criticism with practical exercises, this text will enable readers to understand the magical nature of creative writing, giving them a sense of wider possibilities and equipping them to improve their creative writing.This an ideal resource for undergraduate or postgraduate students taking courses on Creative Writing, as well as established or budding writers working independently.

Myth and Creative Writing is a unique and practical guide to the arts of creative writing. It:Gives a historical perspective on the storyteller's art Takes a wide view of myth, to include: legends, folklore, biblical myth, classical myth, belief myths, balladry and song. Considers all aspects of the creative process, from conception to completion Provides tips on seeking inspiration from classical and mythic sources Shows how myths can be linked to contemporary concerns Enables beginning writers to tap into the deeper resonances of myth Guides students to further critical and creative resourcesA secret that all writers know is that they are part of a long tradition of storytelling - whether they call it mythic, intertextual, interactive or original. And in the pantheon of storytelling, myths (those stories that tell us, in often magical terms, how the world and the creatures in it came to be) are the bedrock, a source of unending inspiration. One can dress the study of literature in the finest critical clothing - or intellectualise it until the cows come home - but at its heart it is nothing more - and nothing less - than the study of the human instinct to tell stories, to order the world into patterns we can more readily understand. Exploring the mythic nature of writing (by considering where the connections between instinct and art are made, and where the writer is also seen as a mythic adventurer) is a way of finding close links to what it is we demand from literature, which is - again - something to do with the essences of human nature. Further, in the course of examining the nature of myth, Adrian May provides a very practical guide to the aspiring writer - whether in a formal course or working alone - on how to write stories (myths) of their own, from how to begin, how to develop and how to close.

Myth and Creative Writing is a unique and practical guide to the arts of creative writing. It:Gives a historical perspective on the storyteller's art Takes a wide view of myth, to include: legends, folklore, biblical myth, classical myth, belief myths, balladry and song. Considers all aspects of the creative process, from conception to completion Provides tips on seeking inspiration from classical and mythic sources Shows how myths can be linked to contemporary concerns Enables beginning writers to tap into the deeper resonances of myth Guides students to further critical and creative resourcesA secret that all writers know is that they are part of a long tradition of storytelling - whether they call it mythic, intertextual, interactive or original. And in the pantheon of storytelling, myths (those stories that tell us, in often magical terms, how the world and the creatures in it came to be) are the bedrock, a source of unending inspiration. One can dress the study of literature in the finest critical clothing - or intellectualise it until the cows come home - but at its heart it is nothing more - and nothing less - than the study of the human instinct to tell stories, to order the world into patterns we can more readily understand. Exploring the mythic nature of writing (by considering where the connections between instinct and art are made, and where the writer is also seen as a mythic adventurer) is a way of finding close links to what it is we demand from literature, which is - again - something to do with the essences of human nature. Further, in the course of examining the nature of myth, Adrian May provides a very practical guide to the aspiring writer - whether in a formal course or working alone - on how to write stories (myths) of their own, from how to begin, how to develop and how to close.

From Bataille to Badiou: Lignes: the preservation of Radical French Thought, 1987-2017 provides an exhaustive reading of the significant yet understudied intellectual review Lignes, from 1987 to 2017, to demonstrate how it has managed to preserve and develop the legacy of French radical thought often referred to as ‘French Theory’ or ‘la pensée 68’. Whilst many studies on intellectual reviews from the 1930s to the 1980s exist, this book crucially illuminates the shifting intellectual and political culture of France since the 1980s, filling a major gap in contemporary debates on the continued relevance of French intellectuals. This book provides a strong counter-narrative to the received account that, after the anti-totalitarian ‘liberal moment’ of the late 1970s, Marxism and structuralism were completely banished from the French intellectual sphere. It provides the historical context behind the rise of such internationally renowned thinkers such as Alain Badiou, Jacques Rancière Jean-Luc Nancy, whilst placing them within an intellectual genealogy stretching back to Georges Bataille and Maurice Blanchot in the 1930s. The book also introduces the reader to lesser known but nonetheless significant thinkers, including Lignes editor Michel Surya, Dionys Mascolo, Daniel Bensaïd, Fethi Benslama, Anselm Jappe and Robert Kurz. Through the review’s pages, a novel cultural history of France emerges as intellectuals respond to pressing contemporary issues, such as the fall of Communism, the European migrant crisis and rising nationalist tensions, the globalisation of financial capitalism and the 2008 economic crisis, scandals surrounding paedophilia and the return of religious thought to France, as well as debates on literature and the political value of art.

From Bataille to Badiou: Lignes: the preservation of Radical French Thought, 1987-2017 provides an exhaustive reading of the significant yet understudied intellectual review Lignes, from 1987 to 2017, to demonstrate how it has managed to preserve and develop the legacy of French radical thought often referred to as ‘French Theory’ or ‘la pensée 68’. Whilst many studies on intellectual reviews from the 1930s to the 1980s exist, this book crucially illuminates the shifting intellectual and political culture of France since the 1980s, filling a major gap in contemporary debates on the continued relevance of French intellectuals. This book provides a strong counter-narrative to the received account that, after the anti-totalitarian ‘liberal moment’ of the late 1970s, Marxism and structuralism were completely banished from the French intellectual sphere. It provides the historical context behind the rise of such internationally renowned thinkers such as Alain Badiou, Jacques Rancière Jean-Luc Nancy, whilst placing them within an intellectual genealogy stretching back to Georges Bataille and Maurice Blanchot in the 1930s. The book also introduces the reader to lesser known but nonetheless significant thinkers, including Lignes editor Michel Surya, Dionys Mascolo, Daniel Bensaïd, Fethi Benslama, Anselm Jappe and Robert Kurz. Through the review’s pages, a novel cultural history of France emerges as intellectuals respond to pressing contemporary issues, such as the fall of Communism, the European migrant crisis and rising nationalist tensions, the globalisation of financial capitalism and the 2008 economic crisis, scandals surrounding paedophilia and the return of religious thought to France, as well as debates on literature and the political value of art.

Tradition in Creative Writing: Finding Inspiration Through Your Roots encourages writers to rediscover sources of creativity in the everyday, showing students how to see your writing as connected to your life.