• Blog - Famous authors - Literature

    J.R.R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle-earth and Master of Myth

    April 30, 2026 - By 

    Since I am currently reading The Lord of the Rings (just started book two of The Two Towers) I wanted to focus on Tolkien for this week’s blog. I have been rather negligent of my other blogs since most of my time is spent working full-time and writing my newest novel, The Lady of Steam and Shadow, 14 chapters so far are available to read on patreon.com/storytimebyrk  Here we go: Few writers have shaped modern literature as profoundly as J. R. R. Tolkien. A scholar, linguist, and storyteller of rare depth, Tolkien did not merely write fantasy—he constructed an entire…

  • #designblog - Blog

    Romanticism Revisited: 7 Reasons Why February Still Belongs to the Romantics

    February 23, 2026 - By 

    February is often reduced to a commercialized version of romance—roses, chocolates, and fleeting sentiment. But historically and aesthetically, February belongs to something deeper. It belongs to Romanticism. Not romance in the superficial sense, but the 19th-century movement that elevated emotion, nature, longing, solitude, imagination, and the sublime. In art, literature, and design, Romanticism is not soft—it is expansive. It grapples with awe, melancholy, spiritual intensity, and the human need for transcendence. As winter lingers and daylight subtly stretches, February remains the most Romantic month of the year. Here are seven reasons why. 1. February Is the Season of the Sublime…

  • Blog - Literature - Poet

    Alfred Lord Tennyson: The Victorian Voice and the Man Behind It

    October 13, 2025 - By 

    Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) is often thought of as the quintessential Victorian poet: solemn, moral, deeply religious (or spiritually conflicted), and a poetic voice enshrined in the nation’s imagination.   But behind that public persona lies a more turbulent, restless, and fascinating inner life — one that has lately received renewed attention from biographers and literary historians. In 2025, Richard Holmes published The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science and the Crisis of Belief, which re-casts Tennyson’s early years through the lens of scientific upheaval, existential anxiety, and emotional intensity.  In doing so, Holmes teases out lesser-known details and contradictions that complicate the familiar myth…

  • Blog - cultural - Literature

    Edgar Allan Poe: The Dark Visionary Who Painted with Words

    August 11, 2025 - By 

    Let’s travel into a tiny portion within the world of Gothic literature. When one thinks of Gothic literature, shadowed corridors, and the haunting echo of a beating heart beneath floorboards, one name inevitably rises from the depths—Edgar Allan Poe. Far beyond being simply a writer of the macabre, Poe was an artist of atmosphere. His works are as much about design as they are about narrative, crafting emotional architecture through language, structure, and tone. Poe is an intriguing study in how literary composition mirrors visual composition: balance, contrast, mood, and detail. He is both an intriguing and somber subject for this week’s…

  • #artanddesign - Literature

    John Donne: The Metaphysical Master of Love, Death, and Divine Longing

    July 7, 2025 - By 

    For this week’s blog post, I’d thought I’d detour a bit into the art of writing. As a writer, I have an interest in writers and their skills with the written word, including poets of the past, and wanted to incorporate writers and poets into my blog posts. John Donne is one of English literature’s most enigmatic and enduring voices. A poet-priest who explored the extremes of passion and piety, Donne’s work traverses erotic longing, existential dread, and divine transcendence. His legacy rests in his dazzling metaphysical conceits—those unexpected, often startling comparisons that stretch thought and language to their limits.…