Submission
By coincidence, I finished reading Michel Houellebecq’s latest novel, Soumission, just a few days before Sadiq Khan, a Muslim, was elected Mayor of London. In the novel, another Muslim, Mohammed … Continue reading
Tottel’s Miscellany
In 1557 Richard Tottel published the first anthology of English verse, the forerunner of Palgrave’s Golden Treasury and the Penguin Book of English verse. Tottel’s book, which came to be … Continue reading
The literary case for Britain to stay in the EU
There is nothing in the founding documents of the European Union about ever closer literary union. But if there were, even if that were the only kind of union proposed, … Continue reading
Based on a story by…
If Shakespeare were alive now he would have been obliged to advertise his new play as being based on a story by Robert Greene. He would also have needed Greene’s … Continue reading
Listening to Samuel Beckett
All That Fall was the first of the six short plays that Samuel Beckett wrote for radio. It was commissioned by the BBC and was first broadcast on the Third … Continue reading
How Walt Whitman invented the movies
The model for Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself is Solomon’s Song of Songs. 1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. 2 As the lily … Continue reading
John Donne, Elizabethan poet
Our appreciation of John Donne’s poetry has been spoiled by teachers who tell us that he was one of ‘the metaphysicals’. This goes back to something John Dryden wrote about … Continue reading
