The Problem of Reading, Moyra Davey, 2003
recommended by Eva Moulaert
I love the whole book: how it paints such a vivid picture of reading and writing as part of an artistic practice, and how it shows that professional and private life simply cannot be uncoupled. Davey’s honesty about productivity, creative blocks, and the search for strategies to keep working despite them resonates deeply. But what I am most grateful for is her notion of ‘working-reading’ in this essay: ‘Reading tied to productivity, to making something.’ It is a way of reading that evokes butterflies, causes all kinds of associations, makes me take notes like mad and run over to my bookshelves, a reading that gives me design ideas. This book gently encouraged me to start seeing reading and writing as part of my practice as a graphic designer as well.