Welcome to The Watchful Scribe’s website.
Here, you’ll find an array of posts and essays covering some of the greatest literary works that humankind has produced. They are designed to inform, inspire, and challenge – both myself whilst writing them, and perhaps you while reading.
I hope you can find something here that introduces you to a new work of art, or encourages you to reconsider an existing knowledge in a new light.
First, read my story…
Midway through my first year at university, the COVID pandemic struck.
As we packed our things from our uni halls, it all seemed a bit of an overreaction. We’d be back by May, we thought. Little did we know, we wouldn’t see that accommodation again, at least as tenants.
Come the beginning of our second year, we were allowed to move into our newly-rented student house. But still, the university remained shut off – accessed remotely, through recordings of truncated lectures and digital seminars.
Now, as an English student, remote work wasn’t as prohibiting as it was for those subjects needing labs, or specialised equipment. Yet the joy of studying literature isn’t just in reading, but in active, face-to-face discussion and debate. Something that’s difficult to achieve digitally at all, let alone when relying on spotty student Wi-Fi.
(One area that was particularly devastating was in my theatre modules – despite the tutor’s Herculean effort to make the lessons engaging, acting at one’s desk through tiny Teams boxes on a screen really lacks the same effect.)
Come third year, the university doors were at last reopened for business – and yet, for some baffling, bureaucratic reason, lectures were still halved in length. It must be said (and re-said again) that all of my tutors did a brilliant job at endeavouring to deliver the same high-quality, thorough education that they normally would have. But alas, were Michelangelo only permitted to paint his entire vision on half of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, some sacrifices would’ve had to have been made.
With all this in mind, though my time at university is undoubtedly one I’ll reminisce upon fondly, once my mortar-board had been tossed into the air there was a slight, inescapable sense of not quite having received a bang for my buck. And I’d put money (say, three payments of £9250) on myself not being the only one to think that, either.
Perhaps this feeling of dissatisfaction is why I continued intensely studying literature after graduation. And as I was simultaneously looking to build skills that would boost my employability, I began to think – maybe I could build a brand around this.
So I came up with a name (inspired by a favourite Henry James quote of mine), put Photoshop’s free trial to maximum usage, and cobbled together a site on WordPress. Thus, the first version of The Watchful Scribe tottered into life.
And now, two years, over 30 blog posts, and 5 essays later, I can safely say that the idea has been more of a long-lasting success than I could have hoped. Not only has it spurred me on to explore ever widening circles of literature – the act of approaching them in writing has allowed me to develop a greater appreciation, far stronger than if my engagement had ended upon the final closing of the book.
I will continue to fill this site with new thoughts about new texts. If you feel strongly that there is a glaring gap in my artistic coverage, do not hesitate to inform me. Perhaps it will inspire a Scribbling in the future.
Happy reading,
The Watchful Scribe.