How much can you put yourself into the mind of another individual? My work on Marvell and Private Lives has been a wonderful introspective process because the way I’ve symbiotically linked our biographies together has given me license to think as deeply and darkly as I please. Continue reading »
2011 was a story I don’t know how to tell. It’s a year that had so many structural positives, countered by surface negatives. Perhaps it’s best defined by what others have said. Continue reading »
Sad times. I lament saying that when encountering the headline ‘Gary Speed found dead’, I knew what the cause would be. Continue reading »
Every so often, we hit those defining moments where we ask ourselves the all-important questions. What has made us who we are? Why do we do what we do? Why do we live the way we live? What do we value most in life? Continue reading »
The sci-fi talk about ‘fixed points in time’ is something that has really caught my attention. Without the ability to turn back time, it’s left for us to acknowledge our life-defining moments (if we choose to do so). Continue reading »
it’s one thing to use literature as biographical evidence of its author; it’s another to believe you can use your own personal autobiographical experience to analyse literature. A personal reading of Andrew Marvell’s ‘seduction’ poem, ‘To His Coy Mistress’. Continue reading »
I believe in reward for effort. It’s a very basic but effective principle, and one that in teaching or mentoring roles I have always tried to impart to my charges. If you go the extra mile, you want that dedication to have meaning and result. Sadly, in recent years, it’s a belief I’ve been losing faith in. Continue reading »
A difficult anniversary is approaching, which has made me think a lot about personal relationships. Thus, I turned, as many have seen recently, to the virtues of music: as a companion, as a friend, and as a saviour. I invited friends to receive a song recommendation, all of which are listed here. Continue reading »
Most of us are guilty at some point of writing in cryptics. Why do we do it? Why express ourselves in terms that are not meant to be understood? Is it, perhaps, a deep subconscious desire to be public with our privacy? Is it more about reaching out, or being reached out to? A few thoughts on why we so often seek to tangle rather than untangle. Continue reading »
The highlight of this year has been participating in recordings for The Poetry Show on KUSP Radio, California. This post is indebted to a discussion of Andrew Marvell’s ‘The Garden’ and Christina Rossetti’s ‘In the Willow Shade’ for our fourth installment which aired on 8th May. Continue reading »
