Labour’s flag-waving sends distress signal | Brief letters
Wolverhampton | The Guardian | Ageing poets | Union flag | Labour | StarlingsJohn Harris mentions “the arrival of Conservative MPs in such traditional Labour redoubts as ... Wolverhampton” (Labour’s...
View ArticleThe Butchers: novel set in Irish BSE crisis wins Ondaatje prize
Ruth Gilligan’s thriller about eight men who cull cattle in rural Ireland wins £10,000 for books that ‘best evoke the spirit of a place’Ruth Gilligan’s literary thriller The Butchers, set in the Irish...
View ArticleA Blood Condition by Kayo Chingonyi review – deep, subtle grace
The Zambian-born British poet explores colonial history, the origin of HIV and survivor’s guilt with a quiet powerKayo Chingonyi’s A Blood Condition has a dignity that honours the past without...
View ArticleVincent D’Onofrio: ‘I really did get mugged by a monkey’
The esteemed actor discusses his move into the world of poetry and his distrust of ‘devious’ primates“First of all, let me preface what I’m about to say with this: that other than actual writing...
View ArticlePoem of the month: Auspices by Rachael Boast
It’s better not to movein the long heat and languid evenings,or maybe just this arm, lookingfor a way of overcoming –it will do its work. You bringthe silver breeze with youup from the forest path, a...
View ArticleThe best recent poetry – review roundup
The Trojan Women by Anne Carson with Rosanna Bruno; The Gododdin by Gillian Clarke; Hotel Raphael by Rachel Boast; American Mules by Martina Evans; pandemonium by Andrew McMillanEven at its best, the...
View ArticleDave Cunliffe obituary
My friend Dave Cunliffe, who has died aged 80, was one of a group of poets and publishers who helped to spark the 1960s British counterculture and a wave of experimental verse through their small press...
View ArticleHollie McNish: ‘I have to psych myself up to share’
The prize-winning poet on her bond with her giggly late gran, embracing blush-making subject matter and why reading poetry is key to writingHollie McNish, 38, grew up in Reading, went on from a...
View ArticlePoem of the week: The Unconquered Dead by John McCrae
This first world war poem remains loyal to the patriotic ethos of its time, but the human cost of combat is never deniedThe Unconquered Dead“… defeated, with great loss.”Not we the conquered! Not to us...
View ArticleLove Bites review – gleeful salute to theatre’s thrilling return
York Theatre RoyalA mix of music, dance, comedy and poetry delivers a bittersweet reminder of what lockdown deprived us of – and a joyous celebration of live performanceOn the screen at the back of the...
View ArticleDead Souls by Sam Riviere review – a brilliantly entertaining debut
This evisceration of the small world of English poetry combines meticulous analysis with despairing intimacy, recalling the comic rage of Thomas Bernhard “Yes, all writers go through a Thomas Bernhard...
View ArticleThis Rare Spirit: A Life of Charlotte Mew review – in praise of a Victorian...
Julia Copus captures the hard times and brilliance of an impoverished, independent woman who was ‘the greatest poetess’ Hardy ever knewWhenever someone mentions Charlotte Mew, they feel obliged to add...
View ArticleBob Dylan at 80: in praise of a mighty and unbowed singer-songwriter
Prolific, resilient and endlessly creative … as Dylan celebrates his 80th birthday, Edward Docx assesses his artistic contribution to the human storyBeyond Mr Tambourine Man: 80 Bob Dylan songs...
View ArticleGroup think: why art loves a crowd
From flâneurs to rallies, protests to parties, human beings are drawn to congregate. With social gatherings a possibility once again, Olivia Laing considers the crowd in art and literatureWhen I was...
View ArticlePoem of the week: Lucifer Takes a Break by Barbara Smith
The fallen hero of this intriguing work does not seem all that demonicLucifer Takes a BreakHe stirs sugar into black, watching white crystalstransluce. He rolls a cigarette, crimping a white tipand...
View ArticleThe Place at the Bridge review – a crow-Bard love letter to Bristol
Tobacco Factory theatreShakespeare’s words are repurposed as reverence to the city in a heartfelt play let down by its forced formatBlending sonnets and street art, The Place at the Bridge attempts to...
View ArticleThe poem that’s channelling India’s anger about the pandemic | Salil Tripathi
A 14-line Gujarati verse has highlighted India’s shocking response to Covid – and Narendra Modi’s growing unpopularityParul Khakhar had little idea of the storm her 14-line poem would unleash. Posted...
View ArticleDenis Donoghue obituary
Literary critic who defended traditional values against campus radicalsDenis Donoghue, a formidable defender of traditional literary values, has died at the age of 92. From 1979, as Henry James chair...
View ArticleDreaming of a better future? Ali Smith, Malcolm Gladwell and more on books to...
As our thoughts turn to life after the pandemic, authors from this year’s Hay festival choose books that have inspired lasting change in themAli Smith, novelistBooks, and all the arts, naturally and...
View ArticleJohn Latham obituary
Climate physicist and expert on thunderstorm electrification who was also a published poetHow thunderstorms are generated in clouds is still not fully understood. But John Latham, who has died aged 83,...
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