Category Archives: Uncategorized

Friends were surprised when I said that my narrowboat wouldn’t prove popular with the ladies. ‘What’, they asked ‘about the shadowy swans hanging in the morning mist? What about the warmth of a solid fuel stove and the romanticism of the Bohemian ideal?’ ‘A chemical toilet’, I invariably replied, not needing to mention the twoContinue reading “The Passionate Shepherd – Leontia Flynn’s These Days”

Gerard Manley Hopkins was snotty about Oxford’s outskirts. In Duns Scotus’s Oxford, he reserves his praise for the ivory towers and the river Cherwell as it coils around Magdalen College: ‘Towery city and branchy between towers; / Cuckoo-echoing, bell-swarmèd, lark-charmèd, rook-racked, river-rounded’. He describes the suburbs as ‘a base and brickish skirt’ which ‘sours /Continue reading “Breathless – David Morley’s Enchantment”

My childhood soft toy, a blue waistcoated Peter Rabbit, is a mess. You might expect him to be threadbare after a life in service but he’s missing an ear, buttons and, crucially, has my name emblazoned upon his right leg in huge letters, so that he didn’t go astray in hospital. This chimes with theContinue reading “All you need is love – Mark Doty’s Theories and Apparitions”

Perhaps the little black dress epitomises haute couture because black is the perfect foil for a dirty great swag of diamonds. At The University of Oxford, subfusc, the institution’s distinctive academic dress of black gown and white bow tie is flamboyant enough to see students on their way to exams, dinner – or the pubContinue reading “For the poor and beaten down – David Caddy’s Man in Black”

Only someone who follows no football can understand the feelings of confusion and fear that accompany the convergence of their personal diary and a major fixture. I’d just moved to teach English in a ballet school, which is a fair indication of both my knowledge of and interest in the offside rule. Unpacking complete, I tookContinue reading “In vino veritas – Matthew Stewart’s Tasting Notes”

I was standing at the counter of a Belfast tourist office watching as a biro was waved over a map. ‘And then there’s the Titanic Quarter‘, the girl said. The boy in me was delighted. ‘What’s in the Titanic Quarter?’ I asked, imagining a replica of the Grand Staircase and Kate Winslet’s Empire line charms.Continue reading “Belfast Child – Leontia Flynn’s Drives”

The world’s weirder than we imagine. On a whim, I drove to the Uffington White Horse for the winter solstice. After the night had transitioned to an oppressive slab of grey, I followed the Ridgeway to Weyland’s Smithy, a long barrow, and noticed the smouldering bonfire first. Then, taking in the rest of my surroundingsContinue reading “Cigarettes and Alcohol – John Hartley Williams’ Café des Artistes”

You lash out at the strange and frightening; you lack the ability to control your bowels; you’re helpless and depend upon your loved ones to feed and dress you. Whether you’re a cutsie little toddler, fragranced with wholesome mother’s milk, or a urine scented and demented geriatric makes all the difference to this picture. It’s aContinue reading “Howl, howl, howl! Paul Durcan’s Praise in Which I Live and Move and Have my Being”

Post Live Aid, I’ve always viewed the charity concert or album with cynicism. Sure, the cause is worthy but you wonder whether the preening stars are there for that, or for themselves. Down at English Pen, Sophie Mayer has been busy editing Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot. This collection is different. Sure, there’s a celebrity contribution fromContinue reading “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s Sophie Mayer’s Catechism: Poems for Pussy Riot”

Reporting back from the Edinburgh International Book Festival, George Szirtes quotes Jackie Kay: “Why do novelists so fear the death of the novel?’ she asked. ‘Poets don’t fear the death of the poem.” This anxiety has been bubbling in the media for a while and the argument goes that the novel is disconnecting from the lives weContinue reading “Liberating constraints – Tom Chivers’ Adventures in Form”