The current Exhibition at The National Gallery promises to make you see Van Gogh differently. I see it on Thursday 25th October I read: Cornelia Homburg (ed.) (2024) ‘Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers’.

October 16, 2024

Cornelia Homburg cites  a letter of 1888 in which Van Gogh saw a coal-barge on the quays of the Rhone river that was ‘a grand subject’ and was ‘pure Hokusai’, but it was a subject that he needed to think about painting very differently because, he says: “I’m beginning to see more and more to … More The current Exhibition at The National Gallery promises to make you see Van Gogh differently. I see it on Thursday 25th October I read: Cornelia Homburg (ed.) (2024) ‘Van Gogh: Poets & Lovers’.

Regions, towns, cities, identities and village people: Determining the nature of Community. This is a blog about seeing Andrew McMillan & Tawseef Khan.

October 15, 2024

“Do your parents know you are gay?” “They’re village people.” “People can surprise you. …”.[1] My name for this blog is Regions, towns, cities, identities and village people: Determining the nature of Community. In this blog I interrogate the decision of the Durham Book Festival to entitle a session on new novels by Andrew McMillan … More Regions, towns, cities, identities and village people: Determining the nature of Community. This is a blog about seeing Andrew McMillan & Tawseef Khan.

The living deadness of the static ‘I’ infects our pride in self.

October 14, 2024

Joseph Addison Anyone who attempts this question will soon get caught in a trap, for the first word of their answer will be their downfall: ‘I am most proud of …….’, they start and then describe a quality of their personality or appearance in the world, or perhaps some past action undertaken that they feel … More The living deadness of the static ‘I’ infects our pride in self.

A perhaps-too-bitter little poem about fanciful giving.

October 13, 2024

If you had a million dollars to give away, who would you give it to? If all I had was mine to give away,I might give it. My choice,left with nothingTo be or not to be: being alone,Not having, might be solely my purposeWere life ever to be that abstract thingSuch questions tend to assume … More A perhaps-too-bitter little poem about fanciful giving.

A performance of Pat Barker’s art in ‘The Voyage Home’ merges the voice of the Durham working class and rich music.

October 12, 2024

A performance of Pat Barker’s art in ‘The Voyage Home’ merges the voice of the Durham working class and rich music. I have blogged on The Voyage Home in preparation for this event (see the blog at this link) and had it been for the fairly run-of-the mill interview with Barker conducted by Adelle Stripe … More A performance of Pat Barker’s art in ‘The Voyage Home’ merges the voice of the Durham working class and rich music.

Forward Poetry Prize fills the stage with meaning, truth, beauty and not a little fun.

October 11, 2024

The Forward Poetry Prize is probably the most prodigious of prizes for a working poet and I have followed the short list for best collection with joy , mounting interest and some intense feeling generated by superb works of which I could not predict the winner (see my blog at this link) for I enjoyed … More Forward Poetry Prize fills the stage with meaning, truth, beauty and not a little fun.

‘Space’ explored in light at Durham Cathedral, 7 p.m. on 9th October 2024.

October 10, 2024

‘Space’ explored in light at Durham Cathedral, 7 p.m. on 9th October 2024. This week we are attending events at Durham’s Book Festival but our programme starts tonight with us going to see a revisit to Durham Cathedral of the moving light art exhibition group, Lux Muralis (use the link to read the group’s self-introduction). Their subject this year is Space of the Outer … More ‘Space’ explored in light at Durham Cathedral, 7 p.m. on 9th October 2024.

Alan Hollinghurst says that even if the first person narrator has a ‘testifying force’, it ‘is also filled with the omission of not knowing everything’. This is a blog on Alan Hollinghurst (2024) ‘Our Evenings’.

October 9, 2024

Alim Kheraj of GQ magazine starts his interview regarding Our Evenings (2024) with novelist Alan Hollinghurst with a question about  the ‘distinct first-person narrator’, asking: ‘How did that voice develop?’ Hollinghurst’s answer gives the reason why he thought a first person narrator was ‘inevitable’ because the events must be seen by someone ‘racially distinct from … More Alan Hollinghurst says that even if the first person narrator has a ‘testifying force’, it ‘is also filled with the omission of not knowing everything’. This is a blog on Alan Hollinghurst (2024) ‘Our Evenings’.

A note about ‘Bajazet’ by Racine and translated by Alan Hollinghurst and featuring in ‘Our Evenings’

October 8, 2024

Alan Hollinghurst’s newest novel opens with the memoirist, who is the novel’s focus, Dave Win, thinking about his present life in his 80s. He is ‘two weeks into rehearsals for Bajazet at the Anvil’, where he is ‘playing old Acomat, the grand Vizier, a gift of a part, …’. This blog is a starter before … More A note about ‘Bajazet’ by Racine and translated by Alan Hollinghurst and featuring in ‘Our Evenings’

‘how dare I love you here in the evidence of evil’: some thoughts about ‘Sioux Falls’ in Danez Smith (2024) ‘Bluff’.

October 7, 2024

‘how dare I love you here in the evidence of evil’: some thoughts about Sioux Falls in Danez Smith (2024: page 81) Bluff London, Chatto & Windus. This blog is a preliminary in a mini-project to prepare myself to hear Danez Smith reading from Bluff at the London Literary Festival at The Southbank Centre at 3.15 … More ‘how dare I love you here in the evidence of evil’: some thoughts about ‘Sioux Falls’ in Danez Smith (2024) ‘Bluff’.

‘They flee from me that sometime did me seek’ : Abandonment is a colossally mistaken feeling.

October 6, 2024

Sometimes, it seems that all away do runSometimes, it seems that all away do runand I alone from them do stalk, feeling colossal in my rightness, though aloneperhaps forever – turning in my mindbeing abandoned as gifts held aloftto send me elsewhere – to another sphereof dominion, some place in which I’llstill reign, again held … More ‘They flee from me that sometime did me seek’ : Abandonment is a colossally mistaken feeling.

“… and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” it takes ‘Othello’ to be played on a shoestring to see it as a drama of predictable personal breakdown of a man who lives only in his self-image. This is a blog on seeing Elysium Theatre play ‘Othello’ at Bishop Auckland Town Hall on Friday September at 7.30 p.m.

October 5, 2024

“,,. and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” it takes ‘Othello’ to be played on a shoestring to see it as a drama of predictable personal breakdown of a man who lives only in his self-image. This is a blog on seeing Elysium Theatre play ‘Othello’ at Bishop Auckland Town Hall on … More “… and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” it takes ‘Othello’ to be played on a shoestring to see it as a drama of predictable personal breakdown of a man who lives only in his self-image. This is a blog on seeing Elysium Theatre play ‘Othello’ at Bishop Auckland Town Hall on Friday September at 7.30 p.m.