Author: stevendouglasblog

Born in 1954. Chequered career including Lecturer in English, Social Worker and Lecturer in Social Work. Had breaks related to mental health that also meant I worked in social care. Now retired.

Hearing/seeing Raymond Antrobus – Durham Book Festival Laureate 12th October 2019

October 12, 2019

Hearing/seeing Raymond Antrobus – Durham Book Festival Laureate 12th October 2019 This was an evening of illuminations. Did I miss a lot by following in my copy of the poems from The Perseverance (2018)? Watching the newer poems, I know I did, because here sign languages come into their own and open up  the world … More Hearing/seeing Raymond Antrobus – Durham Book Festival Laureate 12th October 2019

Bishop Auckland ‘Triumph of Pan’ exhibition Visit (2) Perrier’s Narcissus

October 9, 2019

Currently on show with Poussin Triumph of Pan, Trevor Gallery, Bishop Auckland Castle, Auckland Project: Francois B. Perrier Narcissus & Echo Thought to be near contemporary to The Triumph of Pan by Poussin, this painting is used to illustrate seventeenth century uses of mythological narratives or scenarios that illuminate Poussin’s context. For me the chief … More Bishop Auckland ‘Triumph of Pan’ exhibition Visit (2) Perrier’s Narcissus

A review for Black History Month (from a white man unfortunately) – Colson Whitehead’s ‘The Nickel Boys’ (2019) London, Fleet

October 2, 2019

A review for Black History Month (from a white man unfortunately) – Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys (2019) London, Fleet First a confession. I came to know and still, up to now, know Colson Whitehead’s novels by virtue of The Underground Railroad.  I came to that quite accidentally having read Tracy Chevalier’s 2013 novel The … More A review for Black History Month (from a white man unfortunately) – Colson Whitehead’s ‘The Nickel Boys’ (2019) London, Fleet

Introducing Homo-somatism?: The nature of ‘queer’ readings in Art.

September 28, 2019

Introducing Homo-somatism?: The nature of ‘queer’ readings in Art. Sunday, 18 Feb 2018, 14:57Visible to anyone in the world- Edited by Steve Bamlett, Sunday, 18 Feb 2018, 16:29– Edited by Steve Bamlett, Sunday, 18 Feb 2018, 15:23– Edited by Steve Bamlett, Sunday, 18 Feb 2018, 15:20 Introducing Homo-somatism?: The nature of ‘queer’ readings. How is the tolerance of … More Introducing Homo-somatism?: The nature of ‘queer’ readings in Art.

SPACES / PLACES: Assessment (submitted to MoMA course on Modern Art & ideas)

September 27, 2019

‘SPACES / PLACES’: Assessment (submitted to MoMA course on Modern Art & ideas) Friday, 2 Feb 2018, 20:26Visible to anyone in the world- Edited by Steve Bamlett, Monday, 5 Feb 2018, 09:04– Edited by Steve Bamlett, Friday, 2 Feb 2018, 20:28 I’ve always been intrigued by the terms, space’ and ‘place’. Places are spaces with other qualities, … More SPACES / PLACES: Assessment (submitted to MoMA course on Modern Art & ideas)

Reading ‘Quichotte’ Salman Rushdie (2019) London, Jonathan Cape

September 27, 2019

Reading Quichotte Salman Rushdie (2019) London, Jonathan Cape This novel ends as impressively as the stature of its author and its shortlisted status might suggest it does. There is constant reflexivity – it is a frameworking novel about the author of a novel within that novel, toying with Barthes ‘death of the author’ concept. It … More Reading ‘Quichotte’ Salman Rushdie (2019) London, Jonathan Cape

Reading Cockroach Ian McEwan (2019) London, Jonathan Cape

September 27, 2019

Reading Cockroach Ian McEwan (2019) London, Jonathan Cape With no reference to ‘actual cockroaches’, similarities to humans of the cockroaches & humans herein are open for recognition. This is the basic premise: that were cockroaches to metamorphosise (reversing the Kafka direction) into humans, they would support a cause that reduced the human world to disorder, … More Reading Cockroach Ian McEwan (2019) London, Jonathan Cape

First reading of William Feaver’s (2019) ‘The Lives of Lucian Freud: Youth’

September 16, 2019

First reading William Feaver (2019) The Lives of Lucian Freud: Youth London, Bloomsbury Press I think this has to be a ‘first reading’ for me because much will be explained when we read the second volume covering the life lived from 1968. This volume – capacious as it is – ends on a kind of … More First reading of William Feaver’s (2019) ‘The Lives of Lucian Freud: Youth’

Reading Jenni Fagan’s Truth : The Truth is out (and in) there. @Jenni_Fagan #Truth

August 30, 2019

@Jenni_Fagan #Truth Reading Jenni Fagan’s Truth : The Truth is out (and in) there Truth is a problem in poetry. Note Sir Philip Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella Elizabethan sonnet sequence which starts: Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show The homophone ‘fain’ and ‘feign’ here drives together the two kinds of … More Reading Jenni Fagan’s Truth : The Truth is out (and in) there. @Jenni_Fagan #Truth

Pain & Glory: Seeing Almodóvar’s Hamlet: A reflexive Masterpiece

August 23, 2019

Pain & Glory: Seeing Almodóvar’s Hamlet: A reflexive Masterpiece See: https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/45705/1/pedro-almodovar-interview-the-pain-and-the-glory-penelope-cruz-drugs Throughout this film, we see posters of Hamlet and the analogy of the play within a play (and the equally important film within a film) becomes a highly interactive model of the reflexive nature of this film. It reflects the auteur career of Almodóvar … More Pain & Glory: Seeing Almodóvar’s Hamlet: A reflexive Masterpiece

MIMA on Berger: Shaping contemporary local higher education without the constraints of the faculty.

July 20, 2019

http://www.visitmima.com/whats-on/single/runs-like-a-rumor-and-a-legend-john-bergers-miners-30-years-on/ Shaping contemporary local higher education without the constraints of the faculty. Thank you to MIMA, Dr Martyn Huson & Emily Hesse for leading up a wonderful event at MIMA yesterday. Collect together distinguished academics who appear willingly, not only as academics but also as people, to talk about their experience. Then elaborate and structure … More MIMA on Berger: Shaping contemporary local higher education without the constraints of the faculty.

“Much have I travell’d in these woods of old”: On Reading Seán Hewitt’s ‘Lantern’ At Night

July 1, 2019

Much have I travell’d in these woods of old: On Reading Seán Hewitt’s ‘Lantern’ At Night I wanted to thank Andrew Macmillan, already a favourite poet for introducing me to these poems in his luscious tweets (never a bird sung so well) and Seán for his tweeted good wishes for the reading.  These were like … More “Much have I travell’d in these woods of old”: On Reading Seán Hewitt’s ‘Lantern’ At Night