Freelance writer and radio presenter
Richly romantic!
Fleur Roos Rosa de Carvalho, ‘Decorative panels’, in Odilon Redon
and Andries Bonger: 36 works from the Van Gogh Museum collection,
Amsterdam 2022, FREE PDF HERE
Tag: Odilon Redon At Sunnyside
Odilon Redon at Van Gogh Museum
~Sunnyside
I think the last quatrain particularly brilliant!
The plight of refugees stalks the headlines: devastating wrecks off the coast of Greece, Ukrainian children orphaned and uprooted, often welcomed but sometimes mocked and bespattered by their peers. For those of us who have experienced displacement in the past, such stories bring back painful memories and old fears. I recall my family’s early days in Los Angeles — recall my mother’s struggles to clear the bureaucratic hurdles all immigrants face, as well as the playground bullying to which my friends and I were subjected. One of the chapters in the second part of Alexander Voloshin’s On the Tracks and at Crossroads recounts some of those perennial émigré troubles, applying to them a therapeutic layer of absurdist humor. Laughter was how my friends and I coped with our challenges, too; eventually, those challenges fell away, while we, I’m happy to say, are still laughing.
At this point in his…
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A lovely mildly ironic poem!
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 1960s
As I noted at the start of this year, although I’m far from LA, I still keep one eye on the latest Angeleno developments. The Los Angeles Times is always a reliable source — a source, as I told my wonderful audience at the LA Times Festival of Books a week ago, which I’ve often plundered for epigraphs when writing poems about the city. Yesterday’s edition brought to light an incident that… well, I’ll let reporter Christi Carras tell it:
Molly Grant was enjoying the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony on Friday at the Walt Disney Concert Hall when she heard what she described as a “scream/moan” erupt from the balcony.
“Everyone kind of turned to see what was happening,” Grant, who was seated near the person who allegedly made the noise, told The Times on Sunday in a phone interview.
“I…
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Looks like some really engaging material and reminds you of the need for these independent publishers.
As some of you may know, the groundbreaking feminist publisher Virago Press is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this week. Since 1973, Virago has been championing women writers, showcasing their voices to readers around the world with great success.
To mark the occasion, I’ve selected eight of my favourite Virago Modern Classics in their original green livery, complete with those gorgeous covers and iconic green spines. The VMCs were launched in 1978 with Antonia White’s Frost in May, so they too have a notable anniversary (at 45) this year.
The Soul of Kindness by Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor has become one of my very favourite writers over the last ten years, so much so that I could have quite easily filled all eight slots with her books. Nevertheless, I’m limiting myself to one book per author to highlight a range of women writers. Naturally, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont
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Peter Ackroyd has written about Clerkenwell but I haven’t got around to reading my copy. Saving up for Daniel Smith lovely range of colours.
Clerkenwell has many interesting corners. Here is a view across St John’s Square. I sketched it earlier today, sitting on the step of the Priory Church of the Order of St John. The restaurant is called “Compton”.
Here’s a map:
Thank you to the kind person from the Priory Church. They emerged from the door behind me. There I was, low down on the step, at the pen-and-ink stage, with my materials laid out neatly on the stone. They obviously had not expected anyone to be sitting on the step. I had not expected anyone to come out of the dark door. It had looked as if it had been closed shut for millennia. After a moment of surprise, politeness prevailed and we both said hello. Thereafter, I grouped my materials into a compact heap, and they…
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1. Self Portrait, 1940s / Oil on canvas / Art Windsor-Essex, Windsor, Ontario
3. Self Portrait, ND / Oil on canvas / Private collection
4. Self Portrait, ND / Oil on canvas / Private collection
If you need any proof that the most interesting books being published in Australia come from small publishers, look no further than Serengotti, by Eugen Bacon, a new release from Transit Lounge. The striking cover design by Peter Lo is just the beginning…
Eugen Bacon is an African-Australian writer who has been attracting international attention for her powerful writing. She is well-known for her award-winning fantasy and horror fiction, (see her website) but I did not discover her adventurous style until I came across her short fiction collection Danged Black Thing (2021, see my review).
Serengotti also showcases her playful side. I’m not sure, but the title is (I’m guessing) a play on words, one which sent me exploring online (perhaps as the author hoped it would). The Serengeti is a geographical area of Tanzania, (which is where the author was born). Its Wikipedia page has very little to…
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An interesting range of sources here with much to ponder. I find myself reflecting how in urgent need, people who are lonely and/or confused or anxious are unable to think through their needs or be fully aware of the needs of others.
Happy Tram Ride – John Peirson. 1994. Wikioo.
“I want to surround myself with people,
who know how to touch the hearts of people ….
People to whom the hard knocks of life,
taught them to grow with softness in their soul.”Mario De Andrade.( Extract from poem:The Valuable Time of Maturity)
Who are the people who make you feel good? I can imagine that each person reading this will immediately be able to think of someone who has this wonderful capacity. There is usually at least one person in all our lives who makes us feel happier, more supported, appreciated, accepted.
The renowned Spanish poet, above, is referring to people who make him feel good, softer, more flexible people … and those are the people with whom he wants to ‘surround’ himself. This sounds almost like a protective shield of goodness and kindness, for such…
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Lovely arch; beautiful garden too.
On a hot day, in need of healing, I re-discovered this herb garden. It is hidden away the other side of a gate off St John’s Square in Clerkenwell. The gate is open and you can walk right in. There are benches, and aromatic plants. At the back, there’s.a cloister.
I went in the cloister, and found the ideal place to sketch: cool, still, and quiet, with a view from those windows.
Here’s the view:
The Order of St John has a long history.
By 1080, a hospital had been established in Jerusalem by a group of monks under the guidance of Brother Gerard. Its purpose was to care for the many pilgrims who had become ill on their travels to the Holy Land. The men and women who worked there were members of…
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penwithlit 