Grief there is a space where you used to be I see it on grey station platforms and in shuffling supermarket aisles strange how it is never occupied despite the throng I feel it during countryside walks my forlorn hand abandoned constantly surprised to find yours not there a voice […]
Jay Bernard’s collection “Surge” is rooted in the New Cross Fire of 1981; a birthday party that went tragically wrong, and where thirteen young black people lost their lives. Whilst “Surge” never strays too far from its source material, it avoids becoming a ‘one trick pony’, the same song sung time and again, and in […]
Protest the banners were hand-made crafted from garage leftovers and worn out felt-tips or their kids’ ancient painting sets letters shadowed in highlighter orange for emphasis and fire colours running in the rain they stole chants from the terraces recycled repurposed they stole chants from the home […]
“Everything Under” is a modern delight. Not always an easy read – both in terms of theme and style – it is one of those modern contemporary novels (like “Elmet” perhaps) that simply stands out as being really good. There are two things I particularly love about the book. The first is the way the […]
Mostly I think about running. Having just started again some nine years – and one knee operation! – after I ran the London Marathon, the predominant current thought is “this used to be easier”! There was a time when I’d think nothing of a fourteen-mile training run, over two hours non-stop, at a pace these […]
