Author Archives: Sonya Schryer Norris

Guest Post From Beth Burnett

When my friend Sonya asked me to do a guest post for her Hot Researcher (that’s what I call it in my head) blog, I knew I wanted to find a way to tie it in with her delightful series about the great poet Katherine Philips. After all, that blog series inspired me to addContinueContinue reading “Guest Post From Beth Burnett”

Scout update: “Them kittens big cats now”

Scout, the kitten we got last summer, is almost a grown cat now. He’s a good size for a nine month old – sturdy. Actually? He’s getting a bit porky. He reminds me of an endearing line from James Herriott’s All Things Bright and Beautiful about a litter of kittens who almost didn’t make it:ContinueContinue reading “Scout update: “Them kittens big cats now””

Ostentatiously batsh*t crazy buttercream flowers

Betsie took over my last job in the Braille and Talking Book Library. It included coordinating the volunteer narration program and over the course of her first years, we became good friends. I still volunteer for her. In January, she moved into a new house. I’m no good at painting, plumbing and wiring are aContinueContinue reading “Ostentatiously batsh*t crazy buttercream flowers”

The Best Thing to Come Out of This Series

Writing this series about Katherine Philips was some of the best fun I’ve had in a long time. Thanks for following along. It brought me great happiness to remember my passion for KP. The mystery of a longing, of loves, more breathtaking than modern-day erotica. That summer of freedom abroad (even if it meant lotsContinueContinue reading “The Best Thing to Come Out of This Series”

Across the Pond 8: Miss Bertha Better Than You at the Bodlein Library at Oxford

Katherine Philips has a letter in the archives of the Bodlein library of Oxford College. My modern British women’s literature class went to the town of Oxford one week and I realized I would be in very close proximity to an original document of Philips’s. I hadn’t seen her handwriting in person yet, something sheContinueContinue reading “Across the Pond 8: Miss Bertha Better Than You at the Bodlein Library at Oxford”