York St John student writes new blog

Third year student Cameron Stewart has embarked on a regular writing post for the website Outlet Publishing. This is his first blog for them.

Blog One- Introduction
“There is material enough in a single flower for the ornament of a score of cathedrals” – John Ruskin.

What do they mean to life? They are an ever-present symbol of the great words of someone else. As a young writer, I see a quote at the start of nearly every book I read. It is almost a comfort to know, both new writers and well-established ones, use others words to give thanks to that person’s creativity with words. Quotes offer a type of anchor in life because there is a quote for everything.

I will start each blog with a quote, which I will then explore in more detail in the article. I have chosen Ruskin’s quote for this blog because he captures the small yet mighty beauty, of one flower against many colossal cathedrals. In a similar way, I am a new young writer in a sea of great writing giants. Yet, I hope to shine some literary light from an original perspective.

A magazine that I greatly admire and find much value in, is Landscape. It contains writing on nature, the seasons and crafts. It is an uplifting read and my favourite part, is the literature quotes throughout it. It is not something you see in other publications. I like to write my favourite quotes into a journal. This will be my source of quotes, and I hope you find these inspiring. The beauty of writing is that anyone can do it. The only key ingredient needed is imagination. If you have that, the writing becomes limitless with opportunities. In my blogs, I hope to capture what life as a young writer is like.

Some days ideas for a piece of writing can flow fast, and I scramble to get them into a type of order. Other days, the reservoir of ideas is dangerously close to drying up. Looking at quotes can help to boost the creative thinking process. After all, every writer has slow days or even weeks. My aim for this blog is to invite you to muse, ponder and reflect what a young writer is today. Going back to Ruskin’s flower- there can be great beauty in small objects as well as the grand. Indeed, each young writer has that individual flourish to share and this is mine.

The next blog will examine how the falling leaves of Autumn, can be like the falling of words onto the page. Should be good. Do not quote me on that!!

Work Cited-
1- Photo- Indrapradja, Frans. “developingsuperleaders”. Developingsuperleaders.Wordpress.com. Accessed, 26th September 2024.developingsuperleaders.Wordpress.com/author/tiardjaindrapradja/.
2- John Ruskin quote- May edition of Landscape magazine.

If you would like to read more from Cameron please go to

https://blog.outletpublishinggroup.com/

Professor Sarah Lawson Welsh’s Inaugural Lecture by Cameron Stewart

Review by Cameron Stewart

It was fantastic to attend Sarah’s lecture, and learn more about her career and her area of study. I found it fascinating to see how Caribbean culture was of deep interest to Sarah, from being a child. The event had a chronological order through life, from child to student then an academic. It was incredible how Sarah had a passion, to write about Caribbean culture and teach it. I enjoyed the literature aspect, of seeing her favourite authors through her years of research.

The underlining theme was interruptions. The planned and unplanned interruptions, of the pizza delivery halfway through the lecture, and technology slowness, was both humorous and very apt. I felt I could relate to the Covid interruption, as it was something everyone collectively went through. It was moving how Sarah discussed both personal, collective and academic interruptions, that can be faced. It was a powerful point of how an interruption, gives a moment to pause, reflect and re-evaluate what is most important in life.

The evening was peppered with jokes, interesting academic research and a life of interest, to share Caribbean cultural perspectives. The event was a celebration of Sarah becoming a professor and by attending, it was a way to support her, in great thanks for all the support she gives her students.

You can watch Sarah’s inaugural lecture here on YouTube.