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The Influence of Edna O'Brien
 
I arrived early, and as I waited for the doors to open, two men and an elegant, third figure appeared up the steps. I was there because I admired her work, because I wanted to hear her read, and because as a writer I wanted to hear what she had to say about writing. But now, with Edna O'Brien standing both within, and somehow also apart from, her group before me, in a pair of flat, sensible shoes—her only concession to her eighty-odd years—I was thinking in the same gushing terms as the reviews which had romanticized and mythologized her.
 
Paula McGrath

 

How to Run 100 Miles
 
Why the hell would anyone want to run 100 miles? Each runner has his or her reasons. I'm partially aware of mine.
 
Gavin Austin