TypeTown #12: "Does it sound all right? Is it good?"
đ Anthony Burgess, WRDSMTH, Joy Williams, Madeleine Albright, and more...
Howdy, howdy.
Ever get homesick?
Weâre now nine months into our Canadian adventure and halfway to our scheduled return to Manchester.
Thoughts of which quickly surfaced with news that the typewriter owned by Anthony Burgess, the Manc-born author of the 1962 dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange, was on display last week and will be heading out again 25-29 April.
What a beauty!
Just the kind of machine weâd expect from someone who poses for a portrait with their partner lounging in the background.
âIf you are writing on the typewriter, you tend to get the sentence in your head first as a piece of music. Does it sound all right? Is it good?â
If by any chance the exhibition is revived in 2023, Iâll make sure to report back.
READ» New exhibition: Anthony Burgessâs Typewriters - The International Anthony Burgess Foundation
READ» The Clockwork Condition - The New Yorker
READ» Inside the archive: Anthony Burgess and his typewriters - The International Anthony Burgess Foundation
The writingâs on the wall
Roam the streets of LA or London and chances are high youâll eventually encounter some eye-catching typewriter street art from WRDSMTH.
A writer by trade, he admits he wasnât always sure he could make the leap into street art.
âThe funny thing is that I didnât think I could do it. I thought superheroes did it.â
Then inspiration struck.
âWhen I got the idea of a painted typewriter with a page coming out of it, I got really excited. The moment I sprayed that typewriter, the moment I repasted that page, I was gone.â
The rest, they say, is history.
âThere was a thrill for me that I could create words, I could polish them, I could deem them ready for the streets, put them up and see what happens.â
Want to know more?
Put the kettle on, sink into a comfy chair, and settle down with this little lot:
READ» New WRDSMITH Street Art around Shoreditch - London Calling Blog
WATCH» DEV Channel profiles WRDSMITH... (3mins 45secs)
WATCH» WRDSMTH âHow to Build an Art Career While Inspiring the Worldâ (8mins 8secs)
WATCH» The Stay at Home Series with WRDSMTH (32mins 25secs)
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The Joy of text
Question: what do you get when you cross a Pulitzer Prize nominated author with the excitement of a new Hermes 3000?
Answer: this delightful interview with Joy Williams, conducted entirely by typewriter and complete with handwritten annotations and the obligatory rows of xxxxxxxx.
Enjoy!
READ» âMaybe More People Should Have Writerâs Block.â In Which Joy Williams Responds to Our Questions Via Typewriter - Literary Hub
A trailblazer crafted on the keys of a typewriter
News of Madeleine Albrightâs passing generated tributes from far and wide.
Like most senior political figures, Albright was an accomplished thinker.
Long before she rose to become the United Statesâ first female Secretary of State, she was learning to piece together her ideas in time-honoured fashion: on the keys of a typewriter.
In the mid 1950s, just before she started studying at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, her father agreed to buy her first machine.
During her college years, she worked on the student newspaper and covered Sen. John F. Kennedyâs reelection campaign â her first brush with politics and the career that would eventually secure her place in history.
Just five years ago, she was still paying tribute to the power of the typewriter when she attended the White House Correspondentsâ Dinner wearing a typewriter broche.
RIP Madeleine.
READ» Madeleine Albright obituary - The Guardian
READ» Political Issue: The Madeleine Albright Interview - Vogue
READ» Remembering Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright â59 - Wellesley College
Worth pausing the platen
đŹÂ The Mystery of the Arabic Typewriter â Egyptian Streets
đŹÂ King of the keys: Typewriter repairman opens Goodlettsville store â Main Street Nashville
đŹÂ Longmont man brings community together to replace antique typewriter lost in fire â Longmont Times-Call
đŹÂ âNot much businessâ in the typewriter trade these days in Hamilton â The Hamilton Spectator
And finally⊠typewriters in the wild
In this work from French stencil graffiti artist Jef AĂ©rosolâŠ
In this magnificent street furniture published by The Guardian and credited to DesignListicle.comâŠ
And in this tweet direct from the office of Canadian comedian and actor Tom Green. Welcome to the club, TomâŠ
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Until next time
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