Where does practice turn to obsession? Is anger when pursuing perfection inevitable?

These are two of the questions explored in Anne Carson's Hokusai. In the poem Carson takes a look at the later life of one of Japan's greatest artists: Hokusai. She creates poem of magical realism, one that allows the old painters daily ritual of painting lions to spring to life from the page.

Using the poem Carson explores that frustration and subsequent anger that can arise from the creative mind. In the relentless pursuit of your best work, where should an artist draw the line?

Once again Anne Carson has breathed life into an aspect of antiquity that is usually inaccessible to a modern audience, and does so in a way that causes use to empathise with it's subject.

Part 1: Shadowboxer by Anne Carson: https://shows.acast.com/words-that-burn/episodes/shadowboxer-by-anne-carson

One of Hokusai's Lions: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Hokusai%2C_Tiger_in_the_Snow.jpg/1280px-Hokusai%2C_Tiger_in_the_Snow.jpg

Show notes: https://wordsthatburn.substack.com/p/hokusai-by-anne-carson?sd=pf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wordsthatburn?t=p7rGkfElfHZ_8ua0mvsB9A&s=09

Website: https://wordsthatburnpodcast.com/work

Instagram: https://instagram.com/wordsthatburnpodcast?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

One Word (Reworked) by Christopher Galovan: https://soundcloud.com/christophergalovan

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