Reading John Cowper Powys
For some time now I've been orbiting the idea of doing a PhD in English, with the intention of exploring the work of John Cowper Powys. Powys is one of my favourite authors and someone I find myself drawn back to over and over again by some sort of strange magnetism. Much of his work focuses on how to find beauty and meaning in a world so obviously alive and teeming with significance which is, however, beyond true understanding. He advocates taking a personal approach to meaning-making, or the creation of one's own personal religion, something he refers to as a “life-illusion” (also referred to as a “mythology” in Wolf Solent ). To talk about religion is to enter an area fraught with delicacies and complications, but what I like about Powys is the relaxedness of his approach to the subject. Personally, I do not subscribe to or identify with any established religion, but I do find a sense of greater fulfilment in approaching the world poetically – making connections betwee