A place at table

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

Commensality. I first came across the word a few years ago when I wrote an appeal for a community of monks. It means the act of sitting at table together (remember that famous first declension Latin noun, mensa?). Commensality was … Continue reading →

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Things that make me cry

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

‘Are you turning into a marshmallow?’ asked Sarah the other night. The answer is probably Yes. I seem to cry more easily as I get older. What’s curious though is what makes me cry. It’s not so much the things … Continue reading →

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Other humans

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

I have been finding lately that a conversation about empathy is a good starting point for workshops on any kind of business writing. It breaks the ice and gets people talking together about something of which everyone has some kind … Continue reading →

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Finding the flame

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

Since the beginning of the year I’ve been involved in the drafting of three large, high-profile public documents, one an urban regeneration strategy, one an export strategy for a national industry body, and one a long-term plan for a cultural … Continue reading →

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Prison reading

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

A few years ago I visited a prison to give a reading and run a writing workshop, the only time I’ve ever done such a thing. I wrote about it here at the time, but even without referring back to … Continue reading →

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Bad apple

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

A couple of months ago a friend told me about an extraordinary experiment that he and his family had tried. He’s a rational chap who runs a successful arts organisation and I was intrigued. When I got home I decided … Continue reading →

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Sound advice

Posted on March 14, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

I’ve always found it intriguing that the beginning of all things is expressed so often in terms of sound. Science talks about the big bang. In the beginning, according to the Bible, was the word. For Hindus the moment of … Continue reading →

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War Horse revisited

Posted on March 7, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

I once heard the novelist Michael Morpurgo say, ‘The adults I find most interesting are the ones who know that the child inside them is really their soul.’ I’ve always admired his writing. He’s a consummate storyteller who tackles big … Continue reading →

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Thanks but no thanks

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

My son Jake, who is nearly 23, has always been more interested in money than either of his parents or any of his three older sisters. A lot more. We all work in or around the arts and are, by … Continue reading →

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Deep water

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

After the debate that last week’s post provoked (and thanks to everyone who commented, online and offline), I thought I would write about something slightly less contentious this week – sheep, for example. But the first thing that came to … Continue reading →

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