Tag: writing

The world of ‘The Perfect Gentleman; or, Etiquette and Eloquence’ of 1860 USA.

October 23, 2026

Which book’s world would be the absolute worst to live in? The world of ‘The Perfect Gentleman; or, Etiquette and Eloquence’ of 1860 USA. In 1860’s New York, the ‘manners’ of a New York ‘Gentleman’ may well have aped those of Old England, it being understood tht by then the word ‘gentle’ in ‘gentleman’ had … More The world of ‘The Perfect Gentleman; or, Etiquette and Eloquence’ of 1860 USA.

You know one when you see one being ‘good’! A blog on seeing, hearing and feeling together with Christopher Eccleston reading Tony Harrison. A reflection on viewing how ‘The Working-Class library’ makes its podcast on Tony Harrison’s acceptance into the library for ‘The School of Eloquence’.

October 12, 2026

What does it mean to be a good person? View all responses You know one when you see one being ‘good’! A blog on seeing, hearing and feeling together with Christopher Eccleston reading Tony Harrison. A reflection on viewing hoiw ‘The Working-Class library’ makes its podcast on Tony Harrison’s acceptance into the library for ‘The … More You know one when you see one being ‘good’! A blog on seeing, hearing and feeling together with Christopher Eccleston reading Tony Harrison. A reflection on viewing how ‘The Working-Class library’ makes its podcast on Tony Harrison’s acceptance into the library for ‘The School of Eloquence’.

The best advice is learn to tell the time your story at your own pace for your own purpose, at least whilst you have enough time left.

October 10, 2026

If you could go back in time and give your younger self advice, what would it be? View all responses The best advice is learn to tell the time your story at your own pace for your own purpose, at least whilst you have enough time left. This is a verse blog, of which I’m … More The best advice is learn to tell the time your story at your own pace for your own purpose, at least whilst you have enough time left.

Since Iris Murdoch we no longer have the right to centre our narratives on questions about a morally good person, for that demands consistency. Lets’s instead show how a satifying person in fiction is one who bears their inconsistency. On Edith Hall (2026) ‘Medea: A life’.

October 6, 2026

What does it mean to be a good person? View all responses Since Iris Murdoch we no longer have the right to centre our narratives on questions about a morally good person, for that demands consistency. Lets’s instead show how a satifying person in fiction is one who bears their inconsistency. ‘… determined to make … More Since Iris Murdoch we no longer have the right to centre our narratives on questions about a morally good person, for that demands consistency. Lets’s instead show how a satifying person in fiction is one who bears their inconsistency. On Edith Hall (2026) ‘Medea: A life’.

The most underrated skill is that which creates poly-mytho-factive worlds using the skills of curation, collage and, sometimes, the best of scholarship. A first blog on the joy of beginning to read Edith Hall, ‘Medea: A Life’, taking as an example Medea’s plea to help from her goddess-mother, Eidyia.

October 2, 2026

What’s the most underrated life skill? View all responses The most underrated skill is that which creates poly-mytho-factive worlds using the skills of curation, collage and, sometimes, the best of scholarship. A first blog on the joy of beginning to read Edith Hall (2026) Medea: A Life, New Haven & London, Yale University Press, taking … More The most underrated skill is that which creates poly-mytho-factive worlds using the skills of curation, collage and, sometimes, the best of scholarship. A first blog on the joy of beginning to read Edith Hall, ‘Medea: A Life’, taking as an example Medea’s plea to help from her goddess-mother, Eidyia.

How can a drama be created out of the fate of a boy who ‘acquired a knowledge of decorative painting and design, and graining and signwriting’ from the fag-end of a remnant of pre-capitalist values, and the sad shadows of that system that followed it. Some personal and otherwise reflection on reading Robert Tressell before seeing the Ensemble ’84 production of ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’: Part One,being ‘My Dad’.

September 30, 2026

What’s the most underrated life skill? View all responses How can a drama be created out of the fate of a boy who ‘acquired a knowledge of decorative painting and design, and graining and signwriting’ from the fag-end of a remnant of pre-capitalist values, and the sad shadows of that system that followed it. Some … More How can a drama be created out of the fate of a boy who ‘acquired a knowledge of decorative painting and design, and graining and signwriting’ from the fag-end of a remnant of pre-capitalist values, and the sad shadows of that system that followed it. Some personal and otherwise reflection on reading Robert Tressell before seeing the Ensemble ’84 production of ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’: Part One,being ‘My Dad’.

‘No settled senses of the world can match / The pleasures of that madness’. The Pygmalion Moment in art. Visiting the Turner prize 2026 exhibition at MIMA today.

September 29, 2026

What’s a moment in your life that made you feel truly alive? View all responses There is a puzzle in this question in this prompt question that makes me ask if I find ‘a moment’ where I might be said to be ‘truly alive’, how should I describe my state in the remant of the … More ‘No settled senses of the world can match / The pleasures of that madness’. The Pygmalion Moment in art. Visiting the Turner prize 2026 exhibition at MIMA today.

At the end of Oedipus Tyrranus Creon says to Oedipus: ‘Seek not to be master more. Did not thy masteries of old forsake thee when the end was near?’ You are not in control of what relationships do or mean to you entirely. if anything relationships set bonds and bounds to you!

September 27, 2026

Which relationship has taught you the most about yourself? View all responses Relationships and their meaning for those who form a part of them are at the heart of dramatic fiction for a reason.  Human culture has always judged itself in terms of how it articulates the worth and value of a person in relationship … More At the end of Oedipus Tyrranus Creon says to Oedipus: ‘Seek not to be master more. Did not thy masteries of old forsake thee when the end was near?’ You are not in control of what relationships do or mean to you entirely. if anything relationships set bonds and bounds to you!

I believe in karma, only in as much as we practice in our early life or lives what becomes our practise when we think ourselves grown up. This is really a blog in preparation for seeing Hollie McNish reading from her 2025 collection ‘Virgin’ and talking to Michael Pederson in Durham on Friday 9th October 2026 at 7 p.m. at the Gala Theatre

September 24, 2026

Do you believe in karma? View all responses I believe in karma, only in as much as we practice in our early life or lives what is our practise when we think ourselves grown up. Hollie McNish at the Latitude Festival said to the BBC reporter, Charlie Jones: “My poems are pretty much word for … More I believe in karma, only in as much as we practice in our early life or lives what becomes our practise when we think ourselves grown up. This is really a blog in preparation for seeing Hollie McNish reading from her 2025 collection ‘Virgin’ and talking to Michael Pederson in Durham on Friday 9th October 2026 at 7 p.m. at the Gala Theatre

‘Life-hacks’ is yet another example of itself, a way of pretending to understand a more complex explanation of the process by which human understanding of a problem and its solution is reached and implemented. It is also perhaps a ‘democratisation’ of that understanding, – creating a term more clearly understood by more people in a rising generation.

September 17, 2026

Did I have to look up that idiomatic term ‘life-hacks‘ because of my age and slow adaptation to computer technology? Perhaps that is the case but it soon dawned upon me that the term ‘Life-hacks’ is yet another example of itself, a way of pretending to understand a more complex explanation of the process by … More ‘Life-hacks’ is yet another example of itself, a way of pretending to understand a more complex explanation of the process by which human understanding of a problem and its solution is reached and implemented. It is also perhaps a ‘democratisation’ of that understanding, – creating a term more clearly understood by more people in a rising generation.

Do I write what people actually want to read? The issue here is not whether writing can be called writing only because it is read by someone, even if only by yourself, but whether writing appeals to what those people,or person, think that they want.

September 16, 2026

There is, of course, an important and inalienable link being writing and reading, for nothing that is written isn’t from its inception being read, even if only by its writer who assesses as they proceed that the writing is satisfactory to them or its intended audience. The standards of reading judgement vary of course and … More Do I write what people actually want to read? The issue here is not whether writing can be called writing only because it is read by someone, even if only by yourself, but whether writing appeals to what those people,or person, think that they want.

‘Making time to fill with self-care / Leaves no time still to stand and stare’: Help me W.H. Davies!

September 15, 2026

Making time to fill with self-care Leaves no time still to stand and stare: Help me W.H. Davies! I have no great love for W.H. Davies’ poem Leisure, but it feels relevant to this question, opening up the terrible gap in time that cultural ideologies create around words so that a question like our prompt … More ‘Making time to fill with self-care / Leaves no time still to stand and stare’: Help me W.H. Davies!