If what you read appeared as words on your skin, what would be written on you? Some words might be barely visible and fleeting, others bold and permanent. Hmmm… now what would be on my skin? I won’t bore you with my preoccupation with Brexit and UK politics right now. I hope that is fleeting! There would also be the ramblings and rants of my friends on Facebook, cake recipes and words such as “stylish”, “radiant”, “chic” – which by the way is sooo not me – that I’ve absorbed from the White Company catalogue (sadly without the luxurious beach house in California).
As for literature, I’d have a patchwork of long passages from various Jane Austen and Daphne du Maurier’s books. Newer fiction would include The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. I’m sure Neil Gaiman’s short stories might also find a prominent spot. My childhood favourites: The Blackberry Farm series, The Chronicles of Narnia, St Clare’s, may have faded a little, but the children’s stories my son and I read together: The Twits, Artemis Fowl and The Snail and the Whale will still be shining brightly over my heart. My workshop group’s chapters would come and go, along with Electrik Inc line edits, and whatever book or short story I happen to be working on. I can picture the same draft line scrawled across my forehead, getting darker and deeper the more I wrestle it into shape. Then there would be my research material on subjects such as Norse mythology, alchemy, 16th century witch trials, fox behaviour. Good conversation starters, perhaps. “Why exactly have you been reading about how to rob a bank, Kim?”
I could go on, but I think I’m probably running out of skin. I’d love to know what would be written on you.
Inspired by the display window of Mr B’s bookshop in Bath.
Blog post by Kim Donovan
electrik inc 