Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas

"Seeing" by Annie Dillard
She would have liked a lotus, or China asters or the Japanese Iris, or meadow lilies—yes, she would have liked meadow lilies, because the very word meadow made her breathe more deeply, and either fling her arms or want to fling her arms, depending on who was by, rapturously up to whatever was watching in the sky. But dandelions were what she
... See moreMargo Jefferson • Maud Martha
It is a different kind of shame from that of being the daughter of shop-and-café keepers. It is the shame of having once been proud of being an object of desire. Of having considered her life at camp an emancipation. The shame of Annie, what does your body say, of I don’t know you from a hole in the wall, and the scene by the message board; the
... See moreAlison L. Strayer • A Girl's Story – WINNER OF THE 2022 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE
Even now, at seventeen—high school graduate, mistress of her fate, and a ten-dollar-a-week file clerk in the very Forty-seventh Street lawyer’s office where Helen was a fifteen-dollar-a-week typist—as she sat on Helen’s bed and watched Helen primp for a party, the memory hurt. There was no consolation in the thought that not now and not then would
... See moreMargo Jefferson • Maud Martha
The teacher looked at her, looked away, and instead called on a White hand as soon as it was raised. As the Black girl’s arm came down, I could see her head going down. As I saw her head going down, I could see her spirits going down. I turned and looked up at the teacher, who, of course, was not looking at me. She was too busy engaging a favored
... See moreIbram X. Kendi • How to Be an Antiracist
In these short essays, Annie Dillard – the author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and An American Childhood – illuminates the dedication, absurdity, and daring that characterize the existence of a writer. A moving account of Dillard’s own experiences while writing her works, The Writing Life offers deep insight into one... See more
Ten of the Best Books on Writing | Reading Room | Faber Academy
“I’m Mrs. Burns-Cooper,” said the woman, “and after this, well, it’s all right this time, because it’s your first time, but after this time always use the back entrance.” There is a pear in my icebox, and one end of rye bread. Except for three Irish potatoes and a cup of flour and the empty Christmas boxes, there is absolutely nothing on my shelf.
... See more