A midnight court during which only men are invited to speak is where the reader of John O’Donoghue’s Fools & Mad finds herself at this epic poem’s finale. Yet these are no ordinary men, but a jury of twelve poets hand-picked by Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift from Ireland’s literary history. They have been gathered here Read More
Jessie Burton’s debut novel has certainly attracted a lot of attention. One look at the list of awards and recognition the book has received is enough to entice any curious reader. The Miniaturist is also in the process of being translated into thirty-two different languages, an impressive feat for an actress/executive assistant who wrote a Read More
If the reader seeks hearts and flowers in the sunnily-named Happiness, they are to be found, albeit pumping viscerally or severed in vases. Jack Underwood questions how we experience, understand, appreciate and attempt to capture that sometimes elusive state. In something of a Ying/Yang complement he explores whether happiness is possible without its shadow boxer. Read More
When reading poetry I have a habit of dog-earing the most affecting pages. Unfortunately for my edition of Rosie Shepperd’s The Man at the Corner Table, I’ve dog-eared damn near every page. Shepperd trained as an economist and has worked in finance throughout the UK and the US, all the while publishing poems in the Read More
On picking up Glaciation by Will Stone, my first thoughts were of death and religion in an Ice Age setting. This was prompted by the ice-covered sculpture of Christ on the front cover, and a quotation from Percy Bysshe Shelley seemed to confirm this assumption, “The glaciers creep like snakes that watch their prey, from Read More
Already a well-known figure in Britain”s Buddhist community, Maitreyabandhu founded Poetry East in 2010, a venture which set about exploring the relationship between spiritual life and poetry. As a teacher of Buddhism and meditation at the London Buddhist Centre, he is better placed than most to explore this connection. Already a published author of several Read More
It is perhaps fitting that Knight of Cups’ structure revolves around a set of tarot cards; vague, universal statements that seem to fit everyone’s personal experiences are writer-director Terrence Malick’s stock in trade. Malick has made a career of producing “philosophical” films that feature extended shots of beautiful landscapes shrouded in whispered poetic dialogue. As Read More
Demolition comes from Canadian film-maker Jean-Marc Valée (Dallas Buyers Club) and explores the grievance and mental collapse of Davis Mitchel (Gyllenhaal), after he and his wife are in a car crash in which she dies and he escapes unscathed. The film becomes somewhat reminiscent of Donnie Darko crossed with Fight Club, birthing a beautifully original Read More
The Sutherland Clearances continue to provoke controversy, particularly the notion of “Improvement” and the causes of migration, and there are inherent difficulties where most of the primary sources emanate from the Establishment. In Set Adrift Upon the World, Hunter, Emeritus Professor of History and former director of the Crofters’ Union, has delved into personal letters, Read More
John Lister-Kaye’s ninth book, Gods of the Morning: A Bird’s Eye View of the Highland Year, reflects on landscape and wildlife, particularly birds – Virgil’s “gods of the morning” – over four seasons at Aigas, the Highland field centre by the Beauly River, which he owns. The book opens with the death of a blackcap Read More