My mood was a mix-up, dusk and light seemed a matchTo the flow of colours in this translucent gown.Surely Night would not, when I fell in his bed, frownHis disapproval, or with his claws pull and scratchAway this feminine attire, or so he namedIt, as if non-binary being should not beFully blatant in the wide … More Twilight answers the question: ‘What are you doing this evening?’
Colour Wheel Exhibition of Pat Steir Paintings at the Hirsghorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D. C. 2019. Above is the most telling of n-grams I have ever seen, for it appears (remembering of course that n-grams provide neither valid nor reliable evidence for any hypothesis in scientific terms) that the usage of the word … More The word ‘Dissolve’ might aid those who find the things of the world they inhabit too resistant and too ‘solid’, but it is a word that in this helpful usage seems itself to be fading away.
Pinkwashing is not a trait, it is a strategy used to deceive. Where ‘gay rights’ trump human rights then the best trait of our humanity – that desiring free self-expression is being twisted for anti-queer means. This blog works out some issues with the help of Elias Jahshan (2025) ‘This Queer Arab Family: An Anthology … More Pinkwashing is not a trait, it is a strategy used to deceive. Where ‘gay rights’ trump human rights then the best trait of our humanity – that desiring free self-expression is being twisted for anti-queer means. This blog works out some issues with the help of Elias Jahshan (2025) ‘This Queer Arab Family: An Anthology of LGBTQ+ Arab Writers’.
‘Hills: … For many years these hills stayed safely in my memory. Even now, I can bring them to mind, or the feeling of being amidst them. Sometimes when I’m alone, my right hand lifts, and the hand sweeps diagonally upward, as if to trace the curving flank of one of those hills: a slow, … More If it is the job of the novelist is to render the form of memory through many aspects of mind and bodily sensations, then this is one of the most superb novels ever. This is a blog on Claire Adam (2025) ‘Love Forms’.
Relax what exactly? Well! Relax the tension, ‘inter alia’:: this blog touches on seeing Suzie Miller’s ‘Inter Alia’ streamed at the Gala Theatre Durham on 4th September 2025. The whole point of the Frankie Goes to Hollywood lyrics and the excitable video and still images that once accompanied it on its release as I remember … More Relax what exactly? Well! Relax the tension, ‘inter alia’: this blog touches on seeing Suzie Miller’s ‘Inter Alia’ streamed at the Gala Theatre Durham on 4th September 2025.
Do we give up on one or all of the ‘words that bind us’ at our peril? It might be better to understand why words are multivalent: this is a blog on visiting the Magna Carta exhibition at Durham Cathedral on Wednesday 3rd September 2025. The exhibition runs from July 11 to November 2, 2025. “To no … More Do we give up on one or all of the ‘words that bind us’ at our peril? It might be better to understand why words are multivalent: this is a blog on visiting the Magna Carta exhibition at Durham Cathedral on Wednesday 3rd September 2025.
In metafiction, the narrator may make ad-hoc decisions about the nature of the fiction and adopt, if not fully implement, them in the very moment of narrating that fiction, as in the end of Jonathan Buckley’s 2025 novel, One Boat where it appears that the narrator decides (on authoritative masculine persuasion) that her book is … More This is a blog on the rich novel that is Jonathan Buckley’s (2025) ‘One Boat’.
It brings ‘a tear of joy’ finding truth in fiction and authenticity in mere performance. Here is an example: Liz Duffy Adams’ Born with Teeth; Reflections after reading the text. In an earlier blog post at this link, I said that I would revisit Liz Duffy Adams play Born with Teeth once I had chance … More It brings ‘a tear of joy’ finding truth in fiction and authenticity in mere performance. Here is an example: Liz Duffy Adams’ ‘Born with Teeth’; Reflections after reading the text.
Now is not the time to relax your caution! Would love of country be done surreptitiously and without anything but the need to stoke fear of alien appropriation of ‘our’ homes, women and children by men in black balaclava face coverings, overnight Posted on August 29, 2025 by stevendouglasblog A short film appeared on X, flagship of hatred and … More Now is not the time to relax your caution! Would love of country be done surreptitiously and without anything but the need to stoke fear of alien appropriation of ‘our’ homes, women and children’ by men in black balaclava face coverings, overnight
To feel a ‘right now’ feeling is a strongPretence to being present: whilst ‘right now’Belief now gone, I’m scratching at the painThat comes from scraping off a living fromAttempts to paint an image to last for longEnough to write my name under the glossI’ll finally brush over the whole work.It takes little art, but some … More Feeling absent
I blog to keep my brain and heart ticking! And to read better – sometimes the latter aim fails. This blog takes as an example my planned blog on Susan Choi (2025) ‘Flashlight’. I feel I need to read to keep the synapses flashing in my brain, and my thoughts and feelings in evolution rather … More I blog to keep my brain and heart ticking! And to read better – sometimes the latter aim fails. This blog takes as an example my planned blog on Susan Choi (2025) ‘Flashlight’.
Why not ‘Muffin the Mule‘ because ‘we love Muffin …’: TV was so different then: Received Pronunciation and Puppets on Visible Strings BBC: Annette Mills and Muffin the Mule in For the Children, 1952. Muffin was the first Children’s TV superstar, clopping along to his theme tune ‘Here comes Muffin’! Available: https://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/bbc-100/100-faces/muffin-the-mule/ Here comes Muffin, … More Why not ‘Muffin the Mule’ because ‘we love Muffin …’: TV was so different then; Received Pronunciation and Puppets on Visible Strings
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