Bernadette Rule’s Writing Space

As you will be able to deduce by the telephone in my study, I have no social media handles.  My friend and fellow writer, BD Ferguson, always asks whether we’re waiting for a call from the Kremlin when she sees my “Cold War phone”.

My study was carved from a small room behind my living room, and is a good size for me.  As you can see, if I had more space I would only fill it with more books, papers and other odd aids to inspiration.  I designed it, and another friend and fellow writer, John Terpstra (a cabinet maker in his other incarnation), put in the shelves, desk and counter.

It may look like forgotten heaps of junk to the uninitiated, but each teetering pile has its separate purpose, involving either a writing project, or my artist-interview program, Art Waves, which airs live Sunday evenings from 7 to 8, and then is podcast at archive.org/details/artwaves. The program is my effort to create a spoken word archive on Hamilton artists in this period.  Talking to artists of all kinds is not only fascinating, but is healthy for networking, and gives me energy for my own work.

Virginia Woolf was right.  Having this “room of my own” has dignified my writing life, as well as helping in a practical way.

Photo provided by Bernadette Rule