I’ve been trying hard – so hard – to force a change of mentality in recent weeks. But it doesn’t half bring forth its challenges, and that was truly epitomised this week. … More The Frightening Rule of ‘If’, not ‘When’
At the time of the year when we are drawn to reflect upon companionship, a look at seventeenth-century poet Andrew Marvell’s way of coming to terms with its absence. … More Epic Fail: Andrew Marvell’s Definition of Love
Writing the final chapter of my thesis has been traumatic. The internal negotiations that Marvell faced and the impossibility of choice he so often found himself with leave him trapped in a life that offers so little solace. … More Broken Dreams: Marvell’s Poetics of Privacy
New material on Marvell’s ‘Horatian Ode’ excites me more than any other subject, I would wager. It is one of the iconic poems upon which every Marvellian faces his or her own judgement day. … More Reading the Small Print: Marvell’s Horatian Ode
I’ve often thought that Andrew Marvell’s life and my own show distinct traces of overlap, and it’s never escaped me that this may be one of the reasons why I identify so closely with his writing. … More Writing Lives: Marvell and Biography
The Fairfax 400 Conference took place at the Centre for English Local History, University of Leicester, on June 30th and July 1st, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the birth of Thomas, Lord Fairfax (1612-1671). … More The Fairfax 400 Anniversary Conference
A defence of Nigel Smith’s ‘The Chameleon’, the new biography of the seventeenth-century poet and politican, Andrew Marvell. … More Karma Chameleon: A Defence of Nigel Smith’s Biography of Andrew Marvell
Andrew Marvell’s ‘The Character of Holland’ was composed, though not published, in early 1653. So who was it written for, and why? A brief exploration. … More Resourcefulness: Marvell’s ‘The Character of Holland’
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. … More Andrew Marvell’s Quiet Confidence
What is said, matters. How it is said, matters. To whom it is said, matters. When it is said, matters. The little nuances of our communication are more intricate and powerful than we often care to believe. … More Agency: Too Much Left Unsaid
Writing Privacy 