With so many social media pages out there being shared, liked, retweeted and followed, it’s easy to get a bit lost in the floods of information coming your way. Whether it’s a friend recommending a hilarious video-maker, someone interesting following you on Twitter or a promoted page popping up on your Facebook feed, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of who and what to follow. While we all use social media for different things, all of these platforms are so useful for those moments when you need a quick smile, a pick me up or a light bulb moment. From the inspirational to the beautiful, and the just plain funny, we’re going to be sharing the top Facebook literary accounts to follow for non-stop great content.
The Poetry Hour’s aim is to “recontextualise classic poetry for a modern audience”, in doing so making poetry available and accessible to anyone and everyone. They use celebrity recitals, beautiful graphics and inspiring quotes to hook in audiences and show just how inspiring and creative poetry can be for audiences and writers. Their posts often fit in with social and cultural events, for example the recent Presidential election or International Men’s and Women’s days, and feature poetry from many different writers. If you’re a budding artist seeking inspiration, a social media addict seeking a new fix or anything in between, The Poetry Hour is a great literary page to follow.
This page came to my attention early last year as 2016 saw the celebration of 100 years since Roald Dahl’s birth. I don’t know many people whose childhood wasn’t touched in someway or another by Dahl’s stories, be it through books, film adaptations or audio recordings. His magical worlds of confectionery, giants, wacky families and animals are all celebrated on this Facebook page. Promoting recent adaptations of his books and sharing highlights from his life and works, run by the Roald Dahl Literary Estate, this page is bound to bring a nostalgic smile or mischievous giggle to anyone who is aware of the man and his work.
Though not exclusively literary, Big Think is a knowledge forum “with a mission to help people get smarter, faster.” It’s easy to get lost in the world of hilarious videos and daft photos when on social media, so this site is great for if you’re feeling particularly open minded and want to learn a little something new. Sharing links to interesting articles as well as quotes from inspiring, clever folk, it’s bound to draw your attention to someone you weren’t familiar with. Recent articles included ‘How to Win a Nobel Prize in Literature‘ and quotes from Sylvia Plath and Leonard Cohen. Their scope is broad so there’s bound to be something of interest for everyone in there.
So I hope one or all of these sites spark your imagination in some way or another. Follow our blog to get updates on all our new posts. There’ll be a Twitter edition of this post in the not too distanct future. If there’s any sites you particularly enjoy, share them with us on our Twitter @ScottishWriters, comment on the blog below or get in touch via email. We’re always keen to hear our audience’s feedback!
Words by Kath Warren
Image credit thanks to @PoetryHour, @RoaldDahl and @BigThinkdotcom
