About
A journal kept in public, mostly for the sake of thinking clearly
Marginalia started as a stack of index cards and a habit of arguing with books. It is still that, only now the notes are typed and other people can read them.
What you will find here
Essays about reading with a pencil, keeping a log that is actually useful, designing things that hold their shape, and the unglamorous last ten percent of any piece of work.
There is no advice column here and no productivity system for sale. When something worked, it is written down with the conditions attached. When it failed, that is written down too, because the failures are usually the more useful half.
Everything is written in one sitting, edited in three, and published when it stops getting better rather than when it becomes perfect.
How it works
Written slowly
Every piece sits for at least a week before it goes up. Most of them get shorter in that week, which is usually the point.
Concrete, not abstract
No frameworks, no systems to buy. Just what was tried, what it cost, and what survived the month afterwards.
Roughly weekly
A new essay most weeks, occasionally two, sometimes none. The archive is honest about the gaps.
Written by
June Ashworth
Writer and editor
June writes about attention, craft and the small habits that hold a working life together. She spent nine years editing other people's books before starting Marginalia as a place to think in public.
Corrections, arguments and book recommendations are all welcome. The best way to reach me is hello@marginalia.blog, and I answer everything eventually.
Start with the essays