‘“But again, the text MIGHT be taken seriously. And yet again, the boats are so dignified that the total effect cannot be neo-dada … perhaps the whole thing is really a poem about fishing boats, in a kind of triple wrapping of semi-transparent disguise”’.[1] Reflecting on the City art Gallery, Edinburgh’s mounting of an innovative … More ‘“But again, the text MIGHT be taken seriously. And yet again, the boats are so dignified that the total effect cannot be neo-dada … perhaps the whole thing is really a poem about fishing boats, in a kind of triple wrapping of semi-transparent disguise”’. Reflecting on the City art Gallery, Edinburgh’s mounting of an innovative exhibition of the work of Ian Hamilton Finlay. How seriously should we take it?

‘… his art passed out of fashion and into that dark hinterland of obscurity’.[1] Reflecting on an attempt by the City art Gallery, Edinburgh to revalue some of the lost traditions which help us to see why Charles H. Mackie should be seen as a great Scottish painter. With reference to, amongst other things, Pat … More ‘… his art passed out of fashion and into that dark hinterland of obscurity’. Reflecting on an attempt by the City art Gallery, Edinburgh to revalue some of the lost traditions which help us to see why Charles H. Mackie should be seen as a great Scottish painter. With reference to, amongst other things, Pat Clark (2016) ‘People, Places & Piazzas: The Life & Art of Charles H. Mackie’

Old Men in Love: Shakespeare’s Sonnet 34 Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day, And make me travel forth without my cloak, To let base clouds o’ertake me in my way, Hiding thy bravery in their rotten smoke? ‘Tis not enough that through the cloud thou break, To dry the rain on my storm-beaten … More Old Men in Love: Shakespeare’s Sonnet 34

‘Eventually, I landed on Frantz Fanon. … In my disavowing I forgot who I was in the white frame of reference. The truth was that the Soli of 2003 was black’. [1]  Getting implicated in a complicated story of intersectional oppressions: a reflection on Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali (2019) Angry Queer Somali Boy: A Complicated Memoir, … More ‘Eventually, I landed on Frantz Fanon. … In my disavowing I forgot who I was in the white frame of reference. The truth was that the Soli of 2003 was black’.  Getting implicated in a complicated story of intersectional oppressions: a reflection on Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali (2019) ‘Angry Queer Somali Boy: A Complicated Memoir’.

‘  …“second place” pretty much summed up how I felt about myself and my life – that it had been a near miss requiring just as much effort as victory but with that victory always and forever somehow denied me, by a force that I could only describe as the force of pre-eminence’. [1]  A … More ‘  …“second place” pretty much summed up how I felt about myself and my life – that it had been a near miss requiring just as much effort as victory but with that victory always and forever somehow denied me, by a force that I could only describe as the force of pre-eminence’. [1]  A reflection on Rachel Cusk (2021) ‘Second Place’.

‘Because Peadar loved to dance’.[1] ‘As if, having done the worst thing to each other, we could do no further harm, or any, really. And there was safety in that. Like the old world of my childhood. And, in this strange atmosphere, the shades of Peadar and my mother were somehow given a sort of … More ‘Because Peadar loved to dance’. A reflection on the production of Blueberry Hill released online by Traverse Theatre Edinburgh for the festival, a wonderful realisation of Sebastian Barry (2017) ‘On Blueberry Hill'(Directed by Jim Culleton starring Niall Buggy as ‘Christy’ & David Ganly as ‘PJ’).

A blog reflecting on a Futurelearn Course led by Sarah Stewart:Zoroastrianism: History, Religion, and Belief,  SOAS University of London, & Sarah Stewart (ed.) [2013] The Everlasting Flame: Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination, SOAS, University of London with The British Library & I.B. Tauris, London, New York, the catalogue of a SOAS exhibitionIn Brunei and London … More A blog reflecting on a Futurelearn Course led by Sarah Stewart: ‘Zoroastrianism: History, Religion, and Belief’,  SOAS University of London, & Sarah Stewart (ed.) [2013] ‘The Everlasting Flame: Zoroastrianism in History and Imagination’.

‘A.       He doesn’t read me, and I doesn’t read myself. I doesn’t read or write’. What does it mean to re-create the unread in the fragments of really lived lives? A ‘reading’ of Nadifa Mohamed (2021) The Fortune Men Penguin Viking, Random House, London The quotation in my title comes from the trial in court … More BOOKER SHORTLIST: ‘A.  He doesn’t read me, and I doesn’t read myself. I doesn’t read or write’. What does it mean to re-create the unread in the fragments of really lived lives? A ‘reading’ of Nadifa Mohamed (2021) ‘The Fortune Men’.

Futurelearn Assignment 3: Playing with Poetry: Creative Writing and Poetics:  The University of Newcastle Australia TASK: Go to press Go to a local news page like mine, or something bigger like The Sydney Morning Herald or The New York Times (no need to subscribe to any of them) and pick out phrases or words that catch your eye and paste … More Futurelearn Assignment 3: Playing with Poetry: Creative Writing and Poetics:  The University of Newcastle Australia – TASK: Go to press.

CONTAINS SPOILERS. Be aware if you like to read your novels unaware. This great book is on the SHORTLIST ‘She herself has been taken by surprise at how much it matters to her, this buried question from long ago. … that particular stone never seems to find a resting place, no matter how often it’s … More BOOKER SHORTLIST: ‘She herself has been taken by surprise at how much it matters to her, this buried question from long ago. … that particular stone never seems to find a resting place, no matter how often it’s turned’. A novelist examines the constantly returning inadequately repressed content in the body of individuals, families and nations. A reflection on Damon Galgut (2021) ‘The Promise’

An exercise in Part 4 of the FutureLearn course ‘ In Part 4 you are introduced to Avestan, the script in which the Zoroastrian sacred texts are writtenZoroastrianism: History, Religion, and Belief SOAS University of London It is read from right to left.