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.

‘… he stands, weak in the knees, a fake, a copy, a boy playing dress up… To be or not to be (what you would be or feel to be) depends on it’. The Pretendian in Tommy Orange’s ‘There There’.

April 2, 2024

What Tommy Orange actually writes about his character Orvil Red Feather in his 2018 novel There There is: ‘… he stands, weak in the knees, a fake, a copy, a boy playing dress up… It is important that he dress like an Indian, dance like an Indian, even if it is an act, even if … More ‘… he stands, weak in the knees, a fake, a copy, a boy playing dress up… To be or not to be (what you would be or feel to be) depends on it’. The Pretendian in Tommy Orange’s ‘There There’.

Can poets improve community? The example of Simon Armitage in ‘Blossomise’ is what NOT to do.

April 1, 2024

I have no standing in any community I suppose. I am the worst for it. What is it that prompts people to write poetry or to call themselves poets? Is that fervour for community improvement? Simon Armitage’s latest poetry ‘project’ in community politics is published in his 2024 volume Blossomise. I began to be concerned … More Can poets improve community? The example of Simon Armitage in ‘Blossomise’ is what NOT to do.

This is a blog about preparing for and visiting York on Saturday 30th March 2023 to see Lemn Sissay read at The Grand Opera House: Lemn Sissay (2023) ‘let the light pour in: Morning Poems’.

March 30, 2024

In explaining why (his name is ‘Why’ remember) he dives ‘into words’ to find ‘under the surface the right ones and emerge’ and then lays ‘them out in a quatrain and press send’, Lemn Sissay  concludes: “So, taking the pressure of time as an opportunity, why not try to squeeze a lifetime into four lines? … More This is a blog about preparing for and visiting York on Saturday 30th March 2023 to see Lemn Sissay read at The Grand Opera House: Lemn Sissay (2023) ‘let the light pour in: Morning Poems’.

Helena Kennedy in her review of Atef Abu Saif (2023) ‘Don’t Look Left: A diary of Genocide’  says rightly ‘we have to be capable of holding two truths in our hearts’. This blog reflects on that & the book.

March 29, 2024

Helena Kennedy in her review of Atef Abu Saif (2023) ‘Don’t Look Left: A diary of Genocide’ (Comma Press) says rightly: ‘The people of Southern Israel undoubtedly suffered terrible atrocities on 7 October 2023 at the hands of Hamas. However, we have be capable of holding two truths in our hearts’.[1] Though I agree, I … More Helena Kennedy in her review of Atef Abu Saif (2023) ‘Don’t Look Left: A diary of Genocide’  says rightly ‘we have to be capable of holding two truths in our hearts’. This blog reflects on that & the book.

‘No-one is an island, entire to itself’, as John Donne might have preached, had he wished to touch the diversity of people.

March 28, 2024

As a preacher of sermons, one almost thinks that John Donne was as alive to the need to generate memorable phrases that would outlive knowledge of his work as to teach the religious lessons of human and spiritual concern. Written in 1624, possibly in response to an illness that nearly killed him, the devotional piece … More ‘No-one is an island, entire to itself’, as John Donne might have preached, had he wished to touch the diversity of people.

Why did John Schlesinger and James Lee Herlihy respectively say that Midnight Cowboy was not a “gay movie” nor from a “gay novel”? This is a blog on the myth of the MIDIGHT COWBOY as discussed by Glen Frankel.

March 26, 2024

Why did John Schlesinger and James Lee Herlihy respectively say that Midnight Cowboy was not a “gay movie” nor a “gay novel”?[1] This is a blog on the myth of the MIDIGHT COWBOY as discussed by Glen Frankel (2021) Shooting Midnight Cowboy: Art, Sex, Loneliness, liberation and the Making of a Dark Classic, New York, … More Why did John Schlesinger and James Lee Herlihy respectively say that Midnight Cowboy was not a “gay movie” nor from a “gay novel”? This is a blog on the myth of the MIDIGHT COWBOY as discussed by Glen Frankel.

As people in privileged positions respond to this question, the Israeli government is saying ‘NO’ to action against child starvation in North Gaza. Blunt tools aren’t good tools.

March 25, 2024

Let’s reshape this question, for ‘goals’ are not sacrosanct nor good in themselves but only in their ultimate purpose. and saying ‘no’ may be a defiance of what is good, true, and in the interests of higher principles than self-interest. Today, the self-help and self-care (in truth better named the self-interest) industry will be out … More As people in privileged positions respond to this question, the Israeli government is saying ‘NO’ to action against child starvation in North Gaza. Blunt tools aren’t good tools.

A blog on the Crocker Art Museum’s ‘Breaking The Rules: Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown’. Scott Shields says Brown knew that, in being ‘a homosexual couple’, they would ‘remain, at least to some degree, outsiders’. But is it art!!!! Yes.

March 24, 2024

In the Introduction to the catalogue of the recent exhibition devised by the Crocker Art Museum Breaking The Rules: Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown, curator Scott A. Shields says these queer artists who lived together in California and elsewhere were ‘nearly always described as followers rather than leaders’. And yet the evidence suggests otherwise. Whilst … More A blog on the Crocker Art Museum’s ‘Breaking The Rules: Paul Wonner and Theophilus Brown’. Scott Shields says Brown knew that, in being ‘a homosexual couple’, they would ‘remain, at least to some degree, outsiders’. But is it art!!!! Yes.

This spring day today in our Crook Garden

March 23, 2024

What is your favorite type of weather? Breeze blowing fresh olive leaves of dry mind. Whilst sun gilds blowsy daffodils, yellow to the core of artful sickness, but now lifting it above naming of colour; tonal chiaroscuro making mental shade, soothing, and brightness healing, softly down green to shoots and roots well embedded in hoar … More This spring day today in our Crook Garden

I wish that I were more cued to ‘fight’ injustice (or act decisively at least). This a blog that reflects on seeing Jack Thorne’s play, streamed by the National Theatre, ‘The Motive and the Cue’ last night.

March 22, 2024

What do you wish you could do more every day? We all have our own crosses to bear – obviously I am pathetically trying here to make clever reference to the wonderful cover of the hardcover edition of Steven Berkoff’s book, I Am Hamlet. However, it is true that I often feel like Hamlet myself, … More I wish that I were more cued to ‘fight’ injustice (or act decisively at least). This a blog that reflects on seeing Jack Thorne’s play, streamed by the National Theatre, ‘The Motive and the Cue’ last night.