Hello Members of the Tribe!
Several of you have asked for a transcript of the poem/doggerel I spouted at the keynotes yesterday. Here ’tis:
We are the genre novelists, fiction is our game,
We do not write for fortunes, we do not write for fame.
We write because we have to, the fire that burns inside
To fly across the galaxies, and sail the oceans wide.
We stand upon the shoulders, of greats who blazed so hot;
Donaldson, Wells and Tolkien, Azimov, O’Brian, Scott.
We rub against great shoulders, a fabulous display
Eestep, Hiyate, Leslie and of course Guy Gavriel Kay
So when you reach for implements, for goose quill, pen or keys,
Do not seek for glory, nor seek too much to please.
Write because you have to, the fire that burns inside,
To fly across the galaxies, and sail the oceans wide.
Apologies again to my obvious mentor, Walter McGonnagal!
Fabulous CC
Can’t wait to catch up with you at the SIWC
Kathleen
Mr. Humphreys,
Not sure how to reach you other than to try this. You may be interested in the website I’ve built about the Earl of Essex, given your novel Shakespeare’s Rebel. Thank you.
Hank, thanks so much for sending me this information and links. What a fascinating afterlife Robbie has had – in some ways more successful than his lived one. I never read that quote of his, that he knew he’d be played upon the stage. Sent shivers down my spine! Have you read Rebel? I also adapted it into a play that had a successful run at Vancouver’s Shakespeare festival, Bard in the Beach. Hard to know, but I think I got a reasonable version of him on page and stage. An Icarus indeed.
Strangely, I realize that years ago in London, I spoke to students from Washington and Lee about the artist’s life. So glad to be reminded of how innovative and engaged you are. Congratulations and hope our paths cross one day so we can raise a glass to tragic Robbie Deveraux.