How did Genghis Khan find his way to Marble Arch?
A Gatsby Master Class in London’s Theatres
With the film on the way, Gatsby is re-imagined in London’s theatres
In the Cinema Lobby
1. I was standing in the lobby of my mind on the tiled floor beneath the colonnade, the marble, the…
Chemin de Fer
Casinos from Kowloon to Baden-Baden Serve our breakfast on a silver griddle – We who prop by night the gaming…
Green Wine
He tempts her with Portugal in spring – I can’t, she says, not having stayed before in a hotel with…
Keeping Time
There’s an edgy scent of winter in the air, of chrysanthemums, azaleas, wood-smoke, frost. Music flows through the drawing-room and…
The Patron Saints of Poets
Columba 521-597 Brigid 453-523 Cecilia, martyred 117 David 1085-1015 BC Only these four are placed to catch our prayers to…
Dowsing
‘A dowser is a poet’ you thought, leaning on the farm gate to find the way. But maps have never…
The Late Train to Santa Fe
On my twelfth birthday my father came to my bed in the quiet of night. It was July and…
A Postcard from Ireland
‘Picture-poem’, 1966 oil and collage on board 8’ x 4’ ‘Picture-poem’, 1966 oil and collage on board 8’ x…
Chromotherapy in Cokaigne
Perhaps the most ideal complement to the forest and the former royal residence at Saint-Germain-en-Laye is the nearby Maurice…
Hammerhead Revisited
The Little Magazines: A Study of Six Editors, Ian Hamilton, Faber and Faber, 152pp, £13 (paperback) Gazza Agonistes, Ian…
Thinkers Alike
When I Was a Child I Read Books, Marilynne Robinson, Virago, 224pp, £16.99 (hardback) Diaries 1963-1981: As Consciousness is…
Different Voices
The Salt Harvest, Eoghan Walls, Seren, 64pp, £8.99 (paperback) Wondering About Many Women, Derwent May, Greenwich Exchange, 46pp, £7.99…
What Happened Next?
The Atheist’s Guide to Reality: Enjoying Life without Illusions, Alex Rosenberg, W. W. Norton & Co., 352pp, £17.99 (hardback)…
All in the Mind
The Science Delusion, Rupert Sheldrake, Coronet, 400pp, £19.99 (hardback) The ultimate achievement of reason … is to recognise that…
Boswell’s Grand Tour
Come summer, Europe buckles under the annual migration of students now roosting at their universities. According to the Institute…
Happiness Paints White
You can paint the spaces around it, that is to say, but not it. For centuries happiness has been…
The Fall and Rise of a Familiar Curtain
One February evening in 1982, leaving London’s Adelphi Theatre by the stage door, I am keenly aware of huddled,…
England’s Crimea
There are references to the Crimean War all over London: Sebastopol Road, Inkerman Terrace, The Alma public house, and…
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