A few weeks ago, I attended - virtually, of course! - the Carcanet launch of John Birtwhistle's latest poetry collection, "in the event", with John himself reading. I met John just over forty years ago at the University of Southampton where I was studying English and John was 'writer-in-residence', or some such. There were writing … Continue reading A short memory of Jacques Berthoud
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“Sag Harbor”
[Spoiler alert, from the start.] There's a famous quote from Alfred Hitchcock which goes something like: "if you show the audience a gun in Act 1, it has to be fired in Act 3". Nothing should be superfluous. So when, about mid-way through "Sag Harbor", Colson Whitehead's main character references that one day he'll be … Continue reading “Sag Harbor”
“Paper Aeroplane”
As my first real foray into the work of Simon Armitage, our Poet Laureate, I had expected fireworks from "Paper Aeroplane"... Unfortunately I found it more 'Sparkler' than giant 'Roman Candle'. Several things struck me about this volume, a collection culled from twenty-one of Armitage's other books: There didn't seem to be any consistent 'voice' … Continue reading “Paper Aeroplane”
“Everyman”
It seems to me that Philip Roth sits squarely within a tradition of great story-telling. I can imagine being in a quiet room with him and then he leans over and says "Let me tell you about this guy I know..." His work is conversational, relaxed; it is unfussy, unpretentious. Yet none of this stops … Continue reading “Everyman”
“Men Without Women”
I have, in the not too distant past, been less than complimentary about Ernest Hemingway (To Have and Have Not). Undaunted, I decided to try "Men Without Women", and I confess to be really pleased to have done so. The stories are lean and enigmatic. The medium seems to suit Hemingway's somewhat 'punchy' style, and … Continue reading “Men Without Women”
“The Gallows Pole”
It's my own fault. The cover was plain enough: 'Winner of the Walter Scott Prize'; 'Historical fiction at its best'. And I never read historical fiction. So what was I doing with a copy of Benjamin Myers' "The Gallows Pole"? I mean, really? And early doors my initial fears appeared to be justified. Some the … Continue reading “The Gallows Pole”
“Selected Poems” – Denise Riley
In her poem 'Dark Looks', Riley says "So, take me or leave me ... or don't flick and skim to the foot of the page and then get up to go -" - which is precisely what I did do. After all, most of the time I had pretty much no idea what was going … Continue reading “Selected Poems” – Denise Riley
“Black Car Burning”
Helen Mort's "Black Car Burning" is, quite simply, a remarkable book. Rarely do you come across a novel that is so rooted in place. The work of Joyce, Forster's "A Passage to India"... Sheffield permeates "Black Car Burning". It is a character in it's own right - quite literally. And it seeps into every page. … Continue reading “Black Car Burning”
Speed-dating
OK. Let's get a couple of things clear up front... This post isn't about speed-datingActually I've never had any experience of speed-dating, so if you hear anything to the contrary they are just vile rumours So, speed-dating. The 'topic' - or at least the title of the topic - comes from a recent post of … Continue reading Speed-dating
“e.e.cummings: selected poems 1923-1958”
There can be few writers more generally inaccessible than e.e.cummings. By breaking so many conventions - both in the language and structure of poetry - perhaps the primary thing cummings' achieved was to release the traditional shackles and taboos which may have been constraining poetry in the first part of the twentieth century. You could … Continue reading “e.e.cummings: selected poems 1923-1958”
Ian Gouge - Writer 