Today I am writing about several different issues – all Mary Stewart-related, of course – under the umbrella of one blogpost and to make it sound organised I am calling it a bulletin.
POLL
In my last post I set up a poll to explore which genre of Mary Stewart writing was most popular with contemporary readers. To date there have been 39 votes cast so I’m not trying to claim statistical significance on the results… BUT… I am surprised at the huge lead, so far, for Mary Stewart’s early suspense writing. I expected most votes to be split between the early suspense novels and the Merlin/historical/fantasy novels. What I did not expect was for the vote to be so one-sided in favour of early suspense. Mary Stewart herself felt that her Merlin books were her best work and I had thought that many readers would agree with that judgement. Perhaps this voting pattern will change if more votes are cast. And please do vote if you haven’t yet done so here.
MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER
You may know that Mary Stewart’s first published children’s novel The Little Broomstick (1971) is being made into a Japanese animated film called ‘Mary and the Witch’s Flower’ (see my post A Merry Mary Stewart Christmas! 19 December for the trailer and more information). Here are a couple of images from Studio Ponoc.
The 2017 date on these posters is encouraging – I hope this will apply in the UK and worldwide rather than only in Japan. If anyone understands what else is written on these images, please let me know! Failing that, I am eagerly awaiting updates from Studio Ponoc’s English-language twitter account, @ponoc_intl.
HOUSE OF LETTERAWE
Further to my post Mary Stewart’s Home for Sale, I see that the house has now been sold. I hope it’s going to a good home owner!
THE THORNFIELD REVIEW
I am delighted that The Thornfield Review has posted my thoughts on Mary Stewart poem ‘Lidice’ here. There is also some background information on me and how I became such a huge fan of Mary Stewart’s writing.
I am really thankful to Celeste for helping to promote Mary Stewart’s poetry on her wonderful blog about women’s writing – please take a look at The Thornfield Review, it is a blog well worth exploring.
Mary Queen of Plots 