Tag: literature

It was this blog, of course! It is on Peter Jefferies & Gregory Jusdanis ‘Alexandrian Sphinx: The Hidden Life of Constantine Cavafy’.

December 20, 2025

It was this blog, of course! How to write on a life, whose archival raw material is ‘marked by two conspicuous gaps – the relative absence of material regarding Constantine’s erotic life and his views of Muslim Egyptians’.[1] This is a blog on Peter Jefferies & Gregory Jusdanis Alexandrian Sphinx: The Hidden Life of Constantine … More It was this blog, of course! It is on Peter Jefferies & Gregory Jusdanis ‘Alexandrian Sphinx: The Hidden Life of Constantine Cavafy’.

The fever of seeking recognition is at least one of the characteristics in the origin of the social, or aristocratic, vampire in literary myth. We could all do less fame-seeking! A case study based on John William Polidori’s life and writing, OR …

December 5, 2025

The fever of seeking recognition is at least one of the characteristics in the origin of the social, or aristocratic, vampire in literary myth. We could all do fame-seeking! A case study based on John William Polidori’s life and writing, [OR], ‘He watched him; and the very impossibility of forming an idea of the character … More The fever of seeking recognition is at least one of the characteristics in the origin of the social, or aristocratic, vampire in literary myth. We could all do less fame-seeking! A case study based on John William Polidori’s life and writing, OR …

“Boo only comes out at night”, so says Jem Finch in the 1962 film of ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’. What does it take to make ‘darkness visible’. This is a blog preparing me to see the touring production of the play by Aaron Sorkin at the Lowry Theatre on 22nd January 2026.

November 25, 2025

Thrown to the pit of Hell, Satan in Paradise Lost looks around him: At once as far as Angels kenn he viewsThe dismal Situation waste and wilde,A Dungeon horrible, on all sides roundAs one great Furnace flam’d, yet from those flamesNo light, but rather darkness visibleServ’d onely to discover sights of woe,Regions of sorrow, doleful … More “Boo only comes out at night”, so says Jem Finch in the 1962 film of ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’. What does it take to make ‘darkness visible’. This is a blog preparing me to see the touring production of the play by Aaron Sorkin at the Lowry Theatre on 22nd January 2026.

Extra time. Isn’t that another way of invoking ‘…the respect / That makes calamity of so long life’.

November 21, 2025

Extra time. Isn’t that another way of invoking ‘…the respect / That makes calamity of so long life’. Asking himself whether he had rather ‘be’ or ‘not be’ (in short, die now by his own hand or continue living), Hamlet makes it clear that there is an angle (a ‘respect’) from which having ‘extra time’ would … More Extra time. Isn’t that another way of invoking ‘…the respect / That makes calamity of so long life’.

In a historical novel, you can ‘meet’ people supposed in those fictions to be famous AND those who are or ‘were’ so in ‘real’ life simultaneously. In Neil Blakemore’s 2025 novel ‘Objects Of Desire’, the character named Christopher Isherwood says that people want fame: ‘So that they can become monsters and make others feel bad, and no one will dare challenge them’.

November 3, 2025

In a historical novel, you can ‘meet’ people supposed in those fictions to be famous AND those who are or ‘were’ so in ‘real’ life simultaneously. In Neil Blakemore’s 2025 novel Objects Of Desire, the character named Christopher Isherwood says that people want fame: ‘So that they can become monsters and make others feel bad, … More In a historical novel, you can ‘meet’ people supposed in those fictions to be famous AND those who are or ‘were’ so in ‘real’ life simultaneously. In Neil Blakemore’s 2025 novel ‘Objects Of Desire’, the character named Christopher Isherwood says that people want fame: ‘So that they can become monsters and make others feel bad, and no one will dare challenge them’.

‘The departed are yet to arrive / … / but the roads are all laid out: /’ There is no ideal time to pay more attention to the details past than the death that inevitably defines a ‘life’ and picks out its salient meaning. This is a blog referring to a first reading of Simon Armitage (2025) ‘New Cemetery’.

September 30, 2025

‘The departed are yet to arrive / … / but the roads are all laid out: /’ [1] There is no ideal time to pay more attention to the details past than the death that inevitably defines a ‘life’ and picks out its salient meaning. This is a blog referring to a first reading of … More ‘The departed are yet to arrive / … / but the roads are all laid out: /’ There is no ideal time to pay more attention to the details past than the death that inevitably defines a ‘life’ and picks out its salient meaning. This is a blog referring to a first reading of Simon Armitage (2025) ‘New Cemetery’.

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.

August 30, 2025

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.

As always I searched for material to illustrate my blogs. Here is an example: Seeing Liz Duffy Adams’ ‘Born With Teeth’ in a production at Wyndham’s Theatre.

August 24, 2025

As always I searched for material to illustrate my blogs. Here is an example: Seeing (before reading) Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth in a production at Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London on the 20th August 2025, 2.30 p.m. The photographs from the production are taken from: Photos: Born With Teeth starring Ncuti Gatwa … More As always I searched for material to illustrate my blogs. Here is an example: Seeing Liz Duffy Adams’ ‘Born With Teeth’ in a production at Wyndham’s Theatre.

This is a blog on the translation and interpretation of East European migrant experience to America in Ledia Xhoga (2025) ‘Misinterpretation’.

August 23, 2025

‘The phrase Çdo gjë është e shrkruar – Everything is already written – came to mind. Albanians usually offered it to an anxious person for comfort, as a reminder that the cogs of some future event had been spinning since the beginning of time’.[1] This is a blog on the translation and interpretation of East … More This is a blog on the translation and interpretation of East European migrant experience to America in Ledia Xhoga (2025) ‘Misinterpretation’.

To carry is a moral task (not least because it demands nuanced and mature ethical grasp). Let’s hope I can be worthy of it in my remaining years.

August 6, 2025

The word ‘carry’ derives originally from the idea not on the personal capacity to bear something along with you on a journey but on the use of a ‘vehicle’ (‘from Latin “carrum” originally “two-wheeled Celtic war chariot), although the Celtic use itself bears the more difficult to reconcile association of “run”. Maybe the later etymology makes it … More To carry is a moral task (not least because it demands nuanced and mature ethical grasp). Let’s hope I can be worthy of it in my remaining years.

A sonnet ‘stolen’ from Shakespeare: Mine is called ‘You with such power in sight, see nothing’.

July 23, 2025

The following sonnet uses all the rhymes (nearly) and much of the iambic line of metre that still work with modern pronunciation of the words – dignity for instance just won’t make sense today if pronounced ‘dignit-eye’ – from William Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 94: They that have power to hurt and will do none‘ (see it … More A sonnet ‘stolen’ from Shakespeare: Mine is called ‘You with such power in sight, see nothing’.