Steve_Bamlett_blog

‘I close my eyes, just for a moment, and I think about tomorrow. / And the days afterward. / And what it’ll mean to step through a home, in a brand-new place, where my people aren’t’.[1] This is a blog about the emergent meanings of family, home and the endurance of relationships in a global … More This is a blog about the emergent meanings of family, home and the endurance of relationships in a global multicultural queer world where those categories no longer have a simple meaning. It discusses Bryan Washington (2023) ‘Family Meal’.

What does Johny Pitts mean by Visibilty (a little book with a big message published by the Tate Gallery in 2022). My title This book is only 48 pages including the front pages / copyrights / and list of picture captions at the end. It’s message is huge. Let’s take one – by no means … More Are you sure you see what is there?

“Everything I had willingly drawn was female. But here, through these coal-mine drawings, I discovered the male figure and the qualities of the figure in action. As a sculptor I had previously believed only in static forms, that is, forms in repose”.[1] Henry Moore said this when talking to James Sweeney in 1947. It suggests … More “Everything I had willingly drawn was female. But here, through these coal-mine drawings, I discovered the male figure and the qualities of the figure in action”. How a concern with sex / gender manifest itself in Moore’s mining drawings. This blog looks at Chris Owen (2022) ‘Drawing In The Dark: Henry Moore’s Coalmining Commission’.

What are the issues related to the representation or not of cis queer men in contemporary novels that make the representation of young male working class in terms of their cis masculine heterosexual development a focus? From Graeme Armstrong’s (2020) The Young Team to Michael Magee’s (2023) Close to Home (with a bow to queer … More What are the issues related to the representation or not of cis queer men in contemporary novels that make the representation of young male working class in terms of their cis masculine heterosexual development a focus? From Graeme Armstrong’s (2020) ‘The Young Team’ to Michael Magee’s (2023) ‘Close to Home’.

In an interview with Anthony Cummins, Teju Cole says that: ‘… what I wanted was the maximal complexity of thinking in the clearest language that would support that thinking. Being avant garde isn’t about being unreadable’.[1] Teju Cole is clearly a novelist for whom complex thought matters. Let’s ask ourselves how and why thinking in … More In an interview with Anthony Cummins, Teju Cole says that: ‘… what I wanted was the maximal complexity of thinking in the clearest language that would support that thinking. Being avant garde isn’t about being unreadable’. Teju Cole is clearly a novelist for whom complex thought matters. This blog is on Teju Cole (2023) ‘Tremor’.