Things take odd turns sometimes. After my Byzantine Epiphany I felt sure I was on the track of something, yet it proved elusive: after a lot of writing I felt I was still circling round it, unable to pin it down. Then this morning I woke to the news that (with the General Election just … Continue reading No abiding city
Year: 2015
A Byzantine Epiphany
The other day, I was composing a poem in the basilica of Sent Antuan in Istanbul, just before mass (you must forgive this opening: it’s so rarely I get the chance to make such a statement truthfully that I feel I must take the opportunity when it presents itself - and it is relevant, as … Continue reading A Byzantine Epiphany
Pity or Terror? MR James and Jonathan Miller
Since MR James is our most noted writer of ghost stories, Michael Hordern one of our finest actors, and the many-faceted Jonathan Miller among our most celebrated directors, it should be no surprise that a production combining the talents of all three should acquire ‘classic’ status; but that should not stop us looking at it … Continue reading Pity or Terror? MR James and Jonathan Miller
The Exploration of Inner Space III: What Plato’s got to do with it
Chimborazo, Ecuador WHEN I was but thirteen or so I went into a golden land, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi Took me by the hand. Turner’s poem is called ‘Romance’ and it records an experience most of us have felt at some point in childhood, the enchantment that arises from the potent combination of exotic names and far-off … Continue reading The Exploration of Inner Space III: What Plato’s got to do with it
The Exploration of Inner Space II : by way of metaphor
In a recent piece, prompted by Eliot’s line ‘Humankind cannot bear very much reality’ I suggested that we have constructed a carapace that protects us from Reality much as a spacesuit protects an astronaut or a bathysphere a deep-sea explorer. This in itself is an instance of how metaphor works as a tool of thought … Continue reading The Exploration of Inner Space II : by way of metaphor
The Exploration of Inner Space, I : Facing up to reality
From time to time, you come across ingenious arguments that purport to show that the moon-landings were an elaborate hoax, which I think say more about those who advance them than they do about the veracity of lunar exploration; yet there is a sense in which man has not experienced ‘being on the moon’ any … Continue reading The Exploration of Inner Space, I : Facing up to reality
For the Ferryman
(This year's entry for the Fearie Tales competition at Pitlochry Festival Theatre's Winter Words festival, but no hat-trick for me, alas, as it didn't make the cut - a shame, as I think I like it as well as any of my successful entries. But judge for yourself:) ‘Well, I’ll be damned! Is this place … Continue reading For the Ferryman
COMPLEAT TROWZER 