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Origins

The origin of something is the point from which it is initiated, or the thing from which it is ultimately derived. This feature discusses the work of three writers who have all explored what their origins mean to them, both their physical beginnings and the land and people that contributed to making them what they are. Paul Muldoon, Greta Stoddart and Kirsty Gunn all have at least part of their roots in a country different from where they currently live and their exploration of personal identity and history offers fascinating insights.

 

Kirsty Gunn's reflections on the rites of passage experienced by those on the verge of adolescence is an understated account of a burgeoning sexuality, viewed by both those involved and the adults around them.

 

Paul Muldoon, a highly regarded poet, was born and educated in Northern Ireland and is now based at Princeton University in the United States. Muldoon's contribution to New Writing 14, 'Eggs', is a profound and delicate exploration of the life and times of his grandmother.

 

Poet Greta Stoddart has written a universal yet highly personal account of giving birth, in a way that reflects upon all the potential present in the life of a new born. It is a profound meditation upon the human capacity for creation.

 

Kirsty Gunn

Kirsty Gunn is the author of four novels: Rain, The Keepsake, Featherstone and The Boy and the Sea (published by Faber and Faber, May 2006) as well as a collection of short stories, This Place You Return Is to Home. In 2004 she was awarded the Scottish Arts Council Bursary for Literature. She is married with two daughters and lives in London and Edinburgh.

Photograph: Jerry Bauer

 

Paul Muldoon

Paul Muldoon was born in 1951 in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, and educated in Armagh and at Queen's University Belfast. He currently lives in the United States, where he is now Howard G.B. Clark '21 Professor in the Humanities at Princeton University. His collections include Moy Sand and Gravel and The Annals of Chile.

Photograph: Paul Muldoon

 

Greta Stoddart

Greta Stoddart was born in 1966. She works as poetry tutor at Morley College and Goldsmiths University in London and for the Poetry School. She is also Writer-in-Residence at Exeter University. Her debut volume At Home in the Dark won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize 2002.

Photograph: Greta Stoddart

 

Illustration © Maurizio Marmorato
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Link to writing

Eggs * Eggs

Now I Can See How It Was, I Think * Now I Can See How It Was, I Think

You Drew Breath * You Drew Breath

Link to teachers notes

Teachers' notes for Origins * Teachers' notes for Origins

Link to readers notes

Readers' notes for Origins * Readers' notes for Origins

Link to author interviews

Interview with Paul Muldoon * Interview with Paul Muldoon

 

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* * Other themes in this issue *
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