Freelance writer and radio presenter
I seem to say this every year, but 2025 really has been a great reading year for me. From new releases to treasures from the TBR to brilliant reissues and rediscoveries, the books have been excellent, with very few misses. As before, I’m splitting my favourite reads of the year into two parts, with thirteen […]
My Books of the Year, 2025 – Part 1
Born December 16, 1775, Jane Austen reshaped English fiction by refining irony, psychological realism, and narrative voice. Her novels taught English how to think on the page—balancing wit with moral insight, intimacy with distance—creating a prose style that observes, judges, and understands human nature with unmatched intelligence.
Birth of Jane Austen (1775–1817) – The Mind That Taught English Fiction How to Think
ConsolationOur memory was burned in the adoration of her body.Buttocks made of honey; we understood we couldn’tdivulge our secret preparations while we expected anothermisfortune to occur. Ticking of clocks lingered betweenbay and peninsula, tide that raised all our hope, littlejasmine flowers, fragrant nuptials twice experienced.Heart beats, anticipation, until the new gathering wasannounced and we run […]
Übermensch
Born in 1797, Heinrich Heine reshaped English poetry without writing a line in English. Through translation and song, his lyrical brevity, irony, and musical clarity taught English verse to balance feeling with skepticism—showing that poetry could sing sweetly while smiling knowingly at itself.
Birth of Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) – The European Lyric Who Recast English Romantic Irony
Joseph Heller transformed English-language satire by exposing the absurdity of bureaucratic logic and institutional speech. With Catch-22, he introduced a lasting idiom, reshaped the war novel, and showed how English can both reveal and distort reality. His work endures as a critique of power, language, and contradiction.
Death of Joseph Heller (1923–1999) – The Novelist Who Gave English Its Most Famous Paradox
Emily Dickinson, born December 10, 1830, transformed English poetry through her dashes, compressed imagery, and metaphysical vision. Her private writings reshaped the lyric, proving that English could whisper, fracture, and blaze with revelation. From one quiet room, she revolutionized how the language breathes, pauses, and imagines.
Birth of Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) – The Private Genius Who Rewrote English Poetry
Comme photographe et comme personne, nous sommes souvent les témoins involontaires et indiscrets de plusieurs instants de vie pour lesquels l’intimité des gens semble compromise par l’impertinence de notre présence. Dans cette partie d’image captée lors de mon récent et bref séjour à Paris j’ai d’abord remarqué cette scène remarquable de désespoir et de tendresse […]
Fragment de vie dans un fragment d’image …
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