Hello Friends,

Welcome to I’m Really Very Literary, a newsletter from EmilyKathleenWrites.com

I love round-ups and carefully curated links to content from around the web. I’ve tried different versions on my own site, but EmilyKathleenWrites.com is evolving so this seemed like a good time to separate out the links to my favorite content into a newsletter all its own.

What’s with the name?

You should know I like to name things. It’s my favorite part of ideating. (Yes, this is an actual word, though it sounds like corporate jargon)

I’m Really Very Literary, is a line from the original Sex in the City.

A model is sunbathing and says, “I’m really very literary. I’ll sit down and read a whole magazine, cover to cover.”

It’s an easy joke, a poke at how beautiful people can’t also be smart, and that magazines are a lower form of literature. I remember laughing, but something about that line nagged at me. I never really knew why, until now.

What the heck is “literary” anyway?

Why can’t reading a magazine cover to cover be enriching? Why are “beach reads” and romance novels considered low art simply for being entertaining.

I’ll give you a hint, it ends ‘ist.

In the words of the ever luminous, defiantly creative, and entirely practical Elizabeth Gilbert,

“Are you one of those people who believe that the arts are the most serious and important thing in the world? If so, my friend, then you and I must part ways right here.”

I’m Really Very Literary is a wink and a nod to those who never feel guilty about their guilty pleasures—those who embrace Joan Didion as wholeheartedly as they do Jennifer Weiner.

What to Expect

I don’t read fast enough or broad enough to be a book blogger, I don’t analyze in a way a critic might, but when I read something, hear something on a podcast, or see something that moves me I want to share it and I want to know what you think too.

I publish every Friday, sharing the things that interest me then in the comments I hope you’ll share with me what you’re reading, watching, and listening to.

Welcome to I’m Really Very Literary!