The joys of getting in first: literary research and its purpose. More information turns up in the recent issue of ‘Gay & Lesbian Revue’ on James Baldwin and the direction of the play ‘Düşenin Dostu’ (‘Friend of the Fallen’ in English), the Turkish version of John Herbert’s ‘Fortune and Men’s Eyes’ played in Istanbul.

May 7, 2026

The joys of getting in first: literary research and its purpose. More information turns up in the recent issue of Gay & Lesbian Revue on James Baldwin and the direction of the play ‘Düşenin Dostu’ (‘Friend of the Fallen’ in English), the Turkish version of John Herbert’s ‘Fortune and Men’s Eyes’ played in Istanbul. A … More The joys of getting in first: literary research and its purpose. More information turns up in the recent issue of ‘Gay & Lesbian Revue’ on James Baldwin and the direction of the play ‘Düşenin Dostu’ (‘Friend of the Fallen’ in English), the Turkish version of John Herbert’s ‘Fortune and Men’s Eyes’ played in Istanbul.

Superpower: the power to disallow others from having power over you ever again. In the end, it’s a paltry power but somehow it’s all we want and admire. A case study from seeing the Metropolitan Opera production of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’.

May 6, 2026

Superpower: the power to disallow others from having power over you ever again. In the end, it’s a paltry power but somehow it’s all we want and admire. A case study from seeing the Metropolitan Opera production of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’. First of, since I have twice blogged on preparations to see the present revival … More Superpower: the power to disallow others from having power over you ever again. In the end, it’s a paltry power but somehow it’s all we want and admire. A case study from seeing the Metropolitan Opera production of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’.

We have to learn how to accept loss in our life or live with distortion, for (as E.M. Forster tried to show his beloved hero, Maurice) ‘letters distort even more quickly than silence’?

May 5, 2026

It must have seemed a mystery to me, else why did I write it so carefully on the front endpaper of my copy of Maurice (written in 1914 but first published in 1971, and mine was a first edition), at the age of 20 to consider why it seemed to matter so much to me … More We have to learn how to accept loss in our life or live with distortion, for (as E.M. Forster tried to show his beloved hero, Maurice) ‘letters distort even more quickly than silence’?

Perhaps the answer is ‘ a moment of anticipation’! This blog reflects on Eugene O’Neill (1956) ‘A Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ in anticipation of seeing a production revived by Elysium Theatre Company at the Gala Theatre Durham on 19th May 2026.

May 4, 2026

Perhaps the answer is ‘ a moment of anticipation’! A young man and his father are lost to the consumption of hoarded whiskey until the woman, who is their mother and wife respectively, enters pale as a ghost carrying her ancient wedding dress. At this point the youth’s ‘head jerks and his eyes open’, though … More Perhaps the answer is ‘ a moment of anticipation’! This blog reflects on Eugene O’Neill (1956) ‘A Long Day’s Journey Into Night’ in anticipation of seeing a production revived by Elysium Theatre Company at the Gala Theatre Durham on 19th May 2026.

The question should be why would or should you vote in political elections! ‘The Guardian’ today is predicting unprecedented losses for the Labour Party. Yet the current Labour Leader won power in his party by saying no party should promote any policy that would make it ‘unelectable’. It seems now that this ideology has created the least electable party of modern voting history. Is voting in political elections ever a matter of principle in politics?

May 2, 2026

The question should be why would or should you vote in political elections! The Guardian today, with the gloomy collage below, is predicting unprecedented losses for the Labour Party. Yet the current Labour Leader won power in his party by saying no party should promote any policy that would make it ‘unelectable’. It seems now … More The question should be why would or should you vote in political elections! ‘The Guardian’ today is predicting unprecedented losses for the Labour Party. Yet the current Labour Leader won power in his party by saying no party should promote any policy that would make it ‘unelectable’. It seems now that this ideology has created the least electable party of modern voting history. Is voting in political elections ever a matter of principle in politics?

‘boustrophedon, one of the loveliest words in the English language, …’. If only the aims of life were not so ‘chopped up’, end-stopped and linear, we might realise that ‘in our minds’ are ‘only sinuous furrows of thought’. This blog reflects on Yann Martel’s novel, ‘Son of Nobody’.

May 1, 2026

‘boustrophedon, one of the loveliest words in the English language, …’. If only the aims of life were not so ‘chopped up’, end-stopped and linear, we might realise that ‘in our minds’ are ‘only sinuous furrows of thought’. [1] This blog reflects on Yann Martel’s novel, ‘Son of Nobody’. Of course, writing is about giving … More ‘boustrophedon, one of the loveliest words in the English language, …’. If only the aims of life were not so ‘chopped up’, end-stopped and linear, we might realise that ‘in our minds’ are ‘only sinuous furrows of thought’. This blog reflects on Yann Martel’s novel, ‘Son of Nobody’.

What better thing to do in the gay community than remind it of its history and honour its actors: What counts as daring in the face of being true to love! Stefan Haupt’s 2014 film ‘The Circle’ and the dilemma of postwar 20th century queer representations of love between men in Europe.

April 29, 2026

What better thing to do in the gay community than remind it of its history and honour its actors: What counts as daring in the face of being true to love! Stefan Haupt’s 2014 film The Circle and the dilemma of postwar 20th century queer representations of love between men in Europe. Left to right: … More What better thing to do in the gay community than remind it of its history and honour its actors: What counts as daring in the face of being true to love! Stefan Haupt’s 2014 film ‘The Circle’ and the dilemma of postwar 20th century queer representations of love between men in Europe.

Is being productive the issue? Producing art or understanding thereof is more often about the analysis of the unproductive or listless: in Russian, the state of ‘khandra’. This blog is a case study based on preparions for seeing The Metropolitan Opera’s ‘Eugene Onegin’ streamed to Durham Gala on the 6th June.

April 28, 2026

Tchaikovsky could only mount the story of Eugene Onegin according to the strict material limits of the nineteenth century opera and its conventions. There must be three Acts. What must have been clear to him that these acts needed each to revolve around a central dramatic encounter – of course three such were obvious. And … More Is being productive the issue? Producing art or understanding thereof is more often about the analysis of the unproductive or listless: in Russian, the state of ‘khandra’. This blog is a case study based on preparions for seeing The Metropolitan Opera’s ‘Eugene Onegin’ streamed to Durham Gala on the 6th June.

Directing a man’s future being, or, Trans-ing Eugene Onegin

April 27, 2026

Directing a man’s future being, or, Trans-ing Eugene Onegin Let’s divert the question a moment, because I am preparing myself to see Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin streamed (the second time for the opera but then I only saw a live student production: see this blog) from the Metropolitan Opera, and in the middle of re-reading the … More Directing a man’s future being, or, Trans-ing Eugene Onegin

Should we ever regret taking the risk of giving a straight answer to a queer question? In her new novel, ‘My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: a fiction’, Deborah Levy examines, amongst other things why: ‘Stein had put so much in the way. In the way of understanding. She did not believe in it’. The narrator of the novel continually asks: ‘What is it?’ of numerous ‘its’ that are so often getting lost to good, ill or mixed ends. What’s wrong with being always understood?

April 26, 2026

Should we ever regret taking the risk of not giving a straight answer to a queer question? In My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: a fiction, Deborah Levy examines, amongst other things why: ‘Stein had put so much in the way. In the way of understanding. She did not believe in it’. [1] The … More Should we ever regret taking the risk of giving a straight answer to a queer question? In her new novel, ‘My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein: a fiction’, Deborah Levy examines, amongst other things why: ‘Stein had put so much in the way. In the way of understanding. She did not believe in it’. The narrator of the novel continually asks: ‘What is it?’ of numerous ‘its’ that are so often getting lost to good, ill or mixed ends. What’s wrong with being always understood?

‘The world was all before them, where to choose?’ or ‘The earth is all before me … I cannot miss my way’. Looking for direction: how to use a quotation about using a quotation for guidance, and the perils of the freedom to choose!

April 22, 2026

In the seventeenth century educated persons kept commonplace books where things they heard or read could be stored for use or as a momento of the use they had already served, and might, if remembered in this way, serve again. Sometimes they consisted of practical guides to a task, like a recipe, although it was … More ‘The world was all before them, where to choose?’ or ‘The earth is all before me … I cannot miss my way’. Looking for direction: how to use a quotation about using a quotation for guidance, and the perils of the freedom to choose!