Roald Dahl, famed author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and many other beloved classic, had a shed in his back garden that he called his "nest." According to the Roald Dahl Museum, where there is a reconstructed exhibit of his writing shed, the place was an "intensely personal" spot where he could concentrate fully on his writing.
In addition to an armchair that used to belong to his mother, the shed contained a lamp "weighted carefully with a golf-ball to shine at just the right angle and an old suitcase filled with logs to rest his feet on. Gradually the small table in the room was filled with strange and wonderful objects which held personal meaning for him – a model Hurricane plane, like those he had flown in World War Two; his own hipbone, removed during an operation; a fragment of ancient stone with Cuneiform script, picked up during his time in Babylon in 1940; a heavy metal ball, made from the silver wrappings of chocolate bars; an opal, sent to Roald by a boy in Australia as a present."
Stay tuned for more insights into the writing spaces of your favorite classic authors!
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