Salman Rushdie’s: ‘Knife’
‘So my first thought when I saw this murderous shape rushing toward me was: So it’s you. Here you are.’ […]
In the Mountains of Poetry
I nearly titled this ‘Letter’ ‘An Englishman Abroad’ but instead I’ve taken the title from Peter Nasmyth’s wonderful account of […]
A Late Blossoming: Dennis Potter’s Final Interview
The great television dramatist Dennis Potter brought four things to sustain him through his last, hour long, interview. To me, […]
My Beautiful Laundrette
Listening to Hanif Kureishi on Bella Freud’s brilliant podcast ‘Fashion Neurosis’, I was reminded of how much I have enjoyed […]
Not Waving but Drowning
‘All poetry has to do is to make a strong communication’ [Stevie Smith] ‘Not Waving but Drowning’ pulls off a […]
The Miracle & Mystery of the White Horse
Walk down the oldest road in England, then climb Dragon’s Hill (where, legend has it, George battled his infamous Dragon)…there […]
A Week of Kindness – Max Ernst
Switched on, in a corner of my room, sits a lamp printed with images from Max Ernst’s collage novel ‘A […]
Novello, Hitchcock and a Silent Film Classic
“Someone said I was too English. This quite staggered me.” [Ivor Novello] The silent 1927 film ‘The Lodger – A […]
Away We Go! The Art of Eric Ravilious
Wood-engraver, painter, illustrator, designer, war artist: Ravilious’s short life (1903-1942) and work, seems to encapsulate a social history of England […]
Story of Painting – Sister Wendy
I consider myself to have had two formative art teachers – my father – who indeed was an art teacher […]