Literary foraging and collage essays
Hello, I’m Natalie. A writer based in Birmingham, England. I spend my time foraging in books, journals and newspapers, finding voices from the past. I’m interested in the way we tell stories; how those stories interact across time and space; and why, sometimes, they don’t. My writing on this theme has featured in Little White Lies, Hyperallergic and Bright Wall/Dark Room. As a writer I enjoy experimenting with archive texts and assembling fragments in literary collage.
In days gone by people collated their literary foraging in ‘commonplace books’. Much like a scrapbook, these were a place to record and annotate quotes, passages and ideas that made an impression on the keeper. Even poetry and images could be pasted in. The pursuit of ‘commonplacing’ was especially popular with women who were shut out of a male dominated education system. The commonplace book was a place to collect their reading and ideas, an expression of individuality combining intellect, experience and emotion. Sometimes pages were headed with a general subject, like love or grief, with space left to transcribe relevant text. As writers and readers we find ourselves doing similar things today, often recycling the things we discover in our own work. Commonplace books are so incredibly personal that the poet W.H. Auden described his as, “a sort of autobiography,” that revealed the “architecture” of his mind, “the strange flora and fauna of his own secret planet; the sort of thing he likes to think about.”
And so Found Material is both a personal space — somewhere to share the fruits of my own hunter-gathering, including the ephemera accumulating on my desk, works in progress and collage essays — and a collaborative, collective one. I hope to build a space where we can combine our literary and artistic discoveries, make recommendations to each other and build a community. If you’re interested in experimental writing, words, books and tit-bits from the past, this is the place for you.
Newsletters are delivered on Sundays and include:
Desk Notes. On the last Sunday of each month subscribers receive an edition of Desk Notes, where I share ideas about the books, films and exhibitions I’ve been thinking about and how they are informing my work in progress.
Essays. Every quarter, subscribers will receive a segmented or collage essay which stitches together ‘found material’ foraged and forged from the archives. Look out for the first one in March 2024.
The Commonplace. Coming soon in 2024, subscribers are invited to a monthly chat to share and discuss books, quotes, films and ideas on a pre-selected theme. A commonplace book for all and a collective resource everyone can dip into.
Substack App: Follow me on the Substack App where I share articles I’ve enjoyed and posts from the archives.
You can also find my book recommendations on instagram at nataliestendallwrites and Victorian social history at longagogrotto.
