This past Winter, I and a few other scholars travelled to the snow covered shore to sit with Stephen Jenkinson in the great hall and wonder about The Scriptorium. To no one’s surprise, the topic of stories arose:
“I didn’t hear it before, didn’t hear somebody say it, but that doesn’t mean it’s mine. Intellectual property in the court of law: “Yeah, it’s mine.” But in real life, here now, I’m telling you it’s not mine. These stories aren’t mine, the way they came to me isn’t mine. So I didn’t exercise the rights, the prerogative of propitiatory interest. I was a custodian. And you gotta understand what the functions of custody are. It doesn’t mean you own the kid. It means you hope you can function in such a way that the kid can survive you. So, take out the word ‘kid’ and put in the word ‘story’, and you get it.
I’m not saying I wasn’t trying to change the world. I suppose I was. But you gotta decide ongoingly, more than once, whether or not the evidence you leave behind is evidence of somebody who was trying to change the world. Or trying to change himself, and using the world to do it. Or who wasn’t trying.”
~Stephen Jenkinson
19 January, 2025
It is a great honour and privilege to invite you into the Scriptorium. Today marks the opening of the Founding Patron Fundraiser and Lineage Membership. Consider joining us…
Part of the way Orphan Wisdom is celebrating this monumentous occasion, is that Stephen will be offering a hybrid event with both live in-person and online livestream options.
An invitation is coming to you this week to join us in late May for:
The Fury of the Saints: Poetry and Trouble
A live encounter with the poet’s calling,
with poetry’s moral, alchemical force.
