literature

53d

<p>This week's <a href="/tags/newbooks/" rel="tag">#NewBooks</a> at the library:<br>- I expanded my collection of <a href="/tags/tolkien/" rel="tag">#Tolkien</a> books with The Tower and the Ruin: J.R.R. Tolkien's Creation from W.W. Norton<br>- I used my employer's Christmas voucher to buy a copy of Simon Parkin's The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad: A True Story of Science and Sacrifice in a City under Siege from Sceptre (look out for a review in due course).<br>- I also found a second-hand copy of What Is Regeneration? from the University of Chicago Press. </p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#Books</a> <a href="/tags/scicomm/" rel="tag">#Scicomm</a> <a href="/tags/tolkien/" rel="tag">#Tolkien</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a> <a href="/tags/developmentalbiology/" rel="tag">#DevelopmentalBiology</a> <a href="/tags/seedbank/" rel="tag">#SeedBank</a> <a href="/tags/botany/" rel="tag">#Botany</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#Bookstodon</a> <span class="h-card"><a href="https://fedigroups.social/@bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span></p>

A photo of three books standing on a small, brown, wooden table. The out-of-focus background shows black shelves full of books.

On the left, standing up, The Tower and the Ruin, showing a black-and-white photo of J.R.R. Tolkien on a black background. He is wearing a suit and lighting his pipe.

In the middle, lying down, What Is Regeneration?, showing several blue drawings of hydras, a stalked underwater hydrozoan with a crown of tentacles at its free end.

On the right, standing up, The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad, showing part of a black-and-white photo of two women wearing head scarves, seated against a background of concrete rubble. The top half of the cover shows several technical botanical drawings of plants in colour and black-and-white.

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39d

<p>On seeing Iran in the news, I want to say</p><p>my grandmother was called Nasreen,<br>that she died two years ago in Tabriz<br>and I couldn’t go to say goodbye,<br>that she knew nothing of power,<br>nuclear or otherwise…</p><p>—Marjorie Lotfi, “On seeing Iran in the news, I want to say”<br>published in THE WRONG PERSON TO ASK (Bloodaxe, 2024). </p><p>D.A. Prince reviews THE WRONG PERSON TO ASK on The Friday Poem:</p><p><a href="https://thefridaypoem.substack.com/p/the-friday-poem-on-16th-may-2025" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="thefridaypoem.substack.com/p/the-friday-poem-on-16th-may-2025"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">thefridaypoem.substack.com/p/t</span><span class="invisible">he-friday-poem-on-16th-may-2025</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/iran/" rel="tag">#Iran</a></p>

Marjorie Lotfi
On seeing Iran in the news, I want to say

my grandmother was called Nasreen,
that she died two years ago in Tabriz
and I couldn’t go to say goodbye,
that she knew nothing of power,
nuclear or otherwise. I want to say
that the bonfires for Chahar Shanbeh Suri
were built by our neighbour’s hands;
as children we were taught to jump over
and not be caught by the flames. I want to say
my cousin Elnaz, the one born after I left,
has a son and two degrees in Chemistry,
and had trouble getting a job. I want to say
that the night we swam towards
the moon hanging over the horizon
of the Caspian Sea, we found ourselves
kneeling on a sandbar we couldn’t see
like a last gift. I want to say
I’m the wrong person to ask.

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332d

<p>Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World should be read in tandem to understand today’s troubled times</p><p>Is there any past work of fiction that can help us make sense of today’s troubling trends? </p><p>By Laura Hood</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/nineteen-eighty-four-and-brave-new-world-should-be-read-in-tandem-to-understand-todays-troubled-times-253872" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/nineteen-eighty-four-and-brave-new-world-should-be-read-in-tandem-to-understand-todays-troubled-times-253872"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/nineteen-e</span><span class="invisible">ighty-four-and-brave-new-world-should-be-read-in-tandem-to-understand-todays-troubled-times-253872</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Picture of George Orwell which appears in an old accreditation for the BNUJ.

Branch of the National Union of Journalists (BNUJ). - https://web.archive.org/web/20080608013945/http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/pics/orwell-unioncard.htm

The photo of George Orwell in the old BNUJ accreditation shows him with a serious, contemplative expression, wearing a suit and tie. His hair is neatly combed, and the image, likely monochrome, has a formal, passport-style quality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell#/media/File:George_Orwell_press_photo.jpg

Huxley in 1954

Aldous Huxley - A Case For ESP, PK and PSI. Life Magazine. 11 January, 1954.

Aldous Huxley the English writer, novelist, philosopher was also a psychical researcher. He published an article in 1954 supporting extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK) experiments.

The 1954 photo of Aldous Huxley, published in Life Magazine alongside his article on ESP and PK, depicts the writer in a reflective, intellectual pose. Huxley, tall and slender with a high forehead and distinctive glasses, appears deep in thought—his gaze calm yet piercing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldous_Huxley#/media/File:Aldous_Huxley_psychical_researcher.png

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53d

<p>The remarkable, unsung women behind Charles Dickens’s stories</p><p>Behind every great man, there’s a great woman, so the saying goes. Behind Charles Dickens, however, there were many great women supporting and inspiring him.</p><p><a href="https://dickensmuseum.com/blogs/all-events/extra-ordinary-women?srsltid=AfmBOooj90nBCFiqaOK0RUhQmiGyZ7t3WeNj-IDMo4y7-uCa-kDQi-eW&utm_term=6991df7e3a06d68f5fddaf6e0eb53cf9&utm_campaign=Bookmarks&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=bookmarks_email" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="dickensmuseum.com/blogs/all-events/extra-ordinary-women?srsltid=AfmBOooj90nBCFiqaOK0RUhQmiGyZ7t3WeNj-IDMo4y7-uCa-kDQi-eW&utm_term=6991df7e3a06d68f5fddaf6e0eb53cf9&utm_campaign=Bookmarks&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=bookmarks_email"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">dickensmuseum.com/blogs/all-ev</span><span class="invisible">ents/extra-ordinary-women?srsltid=AfmBOooj90nBCFiqaOK0RUhQmiGyZ7t3WeNj-IDMo4y7-uCa-kDQi-eW&utm_term=6991df7e3a06d68f5fddaf6e0eb53cf9&utm_campaign=Bookmarks&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=bookmarks_email</span></a></p><p>Dickens at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/37" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/37"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/37</span></a></p><p>About Catherine Dickens:<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Dickens" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Dickens"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherin</span><span class="invisible">e_Dickens</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

This is a portrait of Catherine Dickens (née Hogarth, 1815-1879), wife of Charles Dickens. Catherine married Charles in 1836 and bore him ten children over fifteen years. Despite being central to Dickens's domestic life during his most productive writing years, she has been largely written out of his story, particularly after their acrimonious separation in 1858.

Catherine is depicted in three-quarter view, seated and resting her arms on an ornate chair back with decorative ribbon or fabric draping. She wears an elegant off-shoulder with a fitted bodice, puffed sleeves, and flowing skirt. Her hair is arranged in the period's typical fashion—parted in the center and swept back into a braided bun with decorative elements.

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313d

<p>Twentieth-Century Radical Scottish Gaelic Magazines and Contacts with Wales</p><p>A recording of Dr Petra Johana Poncarová’s talk, given on 22 May at the Centre for Advanced Welsh Celtic Studies</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKkgWYyhW8" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKkgWYyhW8"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKkgW</span><span class="invisible">YyhW8</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/magazines/" rel="tag">#magazines</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/wales/" rel="tag">#Wales</a> <a href="/tags/welsh/" rel="tag">#Welsh</a> <a href="/tags/celticstudies/" rel="tag">#CelticStudies</a></p>

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330d

<p>So, they say Abercrombie's The Devils is absolutely worth it?</p><p><a href="https://joeabercrombie.com/books/the-devils/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="joeabercrombie.com/books/the-devils/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">joeabercrombie.com/books/the-d</span><span class="invisible">evils/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/amreading/" rel="tag">#amreading</a> <a href="/tags/reading/" rel="tag">#reading</a> <a href="/tags/kindle/" rel="tag">#kindle</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/bookwyrm/" rel="tag">#bookwyrm</a> <a href="/tags/booktoot/" rel="tag">#booktoot</a> <a href="/tags/book/" rel="tag">#book</a> <a href="/tags/knihy/" rel="tag">#knihy</a> <a href="/tags/fantasy/" rel="tag">#fantasy</a> @bookstodon @fantasy @knihy</p>

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313d

<p>We needed it—and he stood there,<br>feet on the dry porch, saying rain,<br>cloud and skyful, the sound of drumming…</p><p>—Niall Campbell, “The Rainmaker”<br>published in POETRY (July/August 2020)<br><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/153822/the-rainmaker" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/153822/the-rainmaker"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.poetryfoundation.org/poetr</span><span class="invisible">ymagazine/poems/153822/the-rainmaker</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/rain/" rel="tag">#rain</a></p>

The Rainmaker
by Niall Campbell

We needed it—and he stood there,
feet on the dry porch, saying rain,
cloud and skyful, the sound of drumming;

the bath trough in the garden listened,
white and bone dry, as he described
a bright wash across the dust fields,

the surest downpour, the flushed skin,
my soaked shirt, heavy as a bell.
Then off he went to the scorched fields,

humming, and weighing what we paid.
What did he say: prayer is moisture;
hope is a well—I didn’t care,

I wanted just the words from him—
what I couldn’t dare say—not there
beneath that sun, that blur of fire-sky.

My thoughts all thoughts of water, I
spun my head round—to hear the spill
of the word rain across the boards,

and nothing grew dark, nothing fell—
but something fell, and the ground took,
and something wild as garlic grew.

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313d

<p>Tenderness is mandatory.<br>Careless lurches may draw blood,<br>enthusiasms leave abrasions,<br>excessive ardour has been known<br>to snap off spinal plates…</p><p>—“The Mating of Dinosaurs”, by William Oliphant (1920–2004)<br>published in The Mating of Dinosaurs (Taranis Books, 1992)</p><p>Today, 1 June, is Dinosaur Day 🦖 </p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/dinosaurs/" rel="tag">#dinosaurs</a> <a href="/tags/dinosaurday/" rel="tag">#DinosaurDay</a></p>

The Mating of Dinosaurs
William Oliphant

Tenderness is mandatory.
Careless lurches may draw blood,
enthusiasms leave abrasions,
excessive ardour has been known
to snap off spinal plates.

There is the constant burden of
the force of gravity that pulls
against the need for viable eggs.

The wear and tear on genitalia,
like spoil of grind of glacier, is
lost in some future fossil count.

The adaptationists suggest
that gentleness emerges here,
and some will come to call it love.

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277d

<p>The poems of Arthur Conan Doyle<br>16 September, online – pay what you can</p><p>Although best known for his Sherlock Holmes stories, Arthur Conan Doyle also published several volumes of verse. While his poetry never achieved the same level of acclaim as his fiction, it remains an important part of his literary legacy, & The Live Canon ensemble will perform a selection of his poems</p><p>@litstudies </p><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-poems-of-arthur-conan-doyle-tickets-1284197211429" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-poems-of-arthur-conan-doyle-tickets-1284197211429"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-poe</span><span class="invisible">ms-of-arthur-conan-doyle-tickets-1284197211429</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thCentury</a> <a href="/tags/conandoyle/" rel="tag">#ConanDoyle</a></p>

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326d

<p>Robert Louis Stevenson & Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne married <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 19 May, 1880. In this article, Prof Penny Fielding explores the dangerous collaboration between RLS & his wife: granting female agency on the page & in life</p><p>1/3</p><p><a href="https://dangerouswomenproject.org/2017/01/06/a-dangerous-collaboration/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="dangerouswomenproject.org/2017/01/06/a-dangerous-collaboration/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">dangerouswomenproject.org/2017</span><span class="invisible">/01/06/a-dangerous-collaboration/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/robertlouisstevenson/" rel="tag">#RobertLouisStevenson</a> <a href="/tags/rls/" rel="tag">#RLS</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#WomenWriters</a></p>

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325d

<p>How Losing a Poetry Competition Launched Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Career</p><p>By Nava Atlas</p><p><a href="https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/classic-women-authors-poetry/losing-poetry-competition-millay/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.literaryladiesguide.com/classic-women-authors-poetry/losing-poetry-competition-millay/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.literaryladiesguide.com/cl</span><span class="invisible">assic-women-authors-poetry/losing-poetry-competition-millay/</span></a></p><p>Edna St. Vincent Millay at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/70" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/70"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/70</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

Edna St. Vincent Millay portrait (c. 1920)

In the photograph, Edna appears poised and introspective, exuding a quiet confidence. Her hair is cropped short in a stylish bob, reflecting the flapper fashion of the era and her alignment with the progressive spirit of the 1920s.

She wears simple, elegant attire—a dark blouse—with minimal adornment, allowing her expressive eyes and finely sculpted features to command attention.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edna_St._Vincent_Millay#/media/File:Edna_St._Vincent_Millay_Portrait_(c._1920).jpg

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311d

<p>Robert Tannahill (1774–1810), “the weaver poet”, was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 3 June – “second only to Robert Burns as a poet writing chiefly in the language of the working class of Scotland”</p><p>1/3</p><p><a href="https://www.thenational.scot/culture/24360177.celebrating-scotlands-second-greatest-poet-robert-tannahill/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thenational.scot/culture/24360177.celebrating-scotlands-second-greatest-poet-robert-tannahill/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thenational.scot/culture/2</span><span class="invisible">4360177.celebrating-scotlands-second-greatest-poet-robert-tannahill/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/18thcentury/" rel="tag">#18thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thCentury</a> <a href="/tags/romanticism/" rel="tag">#romanticism</a> <a href="/tags/pastoral/" rel="tag">#pastoral</a> <a href="/tags/workingclass/" rel="tag">#workingclass</a></p>

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325d

<p>See Flannery O’Connor’s Little-Known Visual Artworks That Had Been Collecting Dust in Storage</p><p>From childhood cartoons to thoughtful self-portraits, the acclaimed Southern writer was always a keen observer of her surroundings</p><p>By Eli Wizevich</p><p><a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-flannery-oconnors-little-known-visual-artworks-that-had-been-collecting-dust-in-storage-180986591/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-flannery-oconnors-little-known-visual-artworks-that-had-been-collecting-dust-in-storage-180986591/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-n</span><span class="invisible">ews/see-flannery-oconnors-little-known-visual-artworks-that-had-been-collecting-dust-in-storage-180986591/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/art/" rel="tag">#art</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Top Row (left to right): Felix Nussbaum; Edith Sitwell; Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Middle Row (left to right): Rachel Carson; Edvard Munch; Flannery O’Connor; Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Bottom Row (left to right): Glenn Miller; Wassily Kandinsky; Ian Fleming; Piet Mondrian

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/class-of-2015/

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310d

<p>“Of aal the fish there iss in the sea,” said Para Handy, “nothing bates the herrin’; it’s a providence they’re plentiful and them so cheap!”</p><p>Neil Munro (1863–1930) – journalist, novelist, short-story writer, & poet – was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 3 June. Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of Herring discusses Munro’s PARA HANDY stories, as well as giving the full text of the tale “The Herring – A Gossip”</p><p>1/4</p><p><a href="https://www.herripedia.com/para-handy/" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.herripedia.com/para-handy/</a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/humour/" rel="tag">#humour</a> <a href="/tags/shortstory/" rel="tag">#shortstory</a> <a href="/tags/herring/" rel="tag">#herring</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a></p>

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324d

<p><a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#Literature</a> picks of the day:</p><p>➡️ <span class="h-card"><a href="https://newsie.social/@nybooks" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>nybooks</span></a></span> - New York Review of Books official account</p><p>➡️ <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.scot/@scotlit" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>scotlit</span></a></span> - Association for Scottish Literature</p><p>➡️ <span class="h-card"><a href="https://bookish.community/@canongatebooks" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>canongatebooks</span></a></span> - Award-winning indie publisher since 1973</p><p>➡️ <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.nl/@ilfu" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>ilfu</span></a></span> - Netherlands' largest literary festival</p><p>➡️ <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@gutenberg_org" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>gutenberg_org</span></a></span> - Project distributing free public domain e-books</p><p>➡️ <span class="h-card"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@publicdomainrev" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>publicdomainrev</span></a></span> - Highlighting best public domain books, art etc</p><p>➡️ <span class="h-card"><a href="https://openbiblio.social/@avldigital" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>avldigital</span></a></span> - Online information project for Comparative Literature scholars (in German & English)</p><p>🧵 1/3</p>

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312d

<p>Get a head start by having a first name<br>that doesn’t really go with your second name.<br>Your parents were just trying to keep everyone happy…</p><p>—Palma McKeown, “How To Be Scots-Italian”<br>published in TALKING ABOUT LOBSTERS: New Writing Scotland 34 (ASL, 2016)<br>A poem for Festa della Repubblica 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/scotsitalian/" rel="tag">#ScotsItalian</a> <a href="/tags/italy/" rel="tag">#Italy</a> <a href="/tags/festadellarepubblica/" rel="tag">#FestaDellaRepubblica</a></p>

Get a head start by having a first name
that doesn’t really go with your second name.
Your parents were just trying to keep everyone happy.
Keep a bottle of Lacryma Christi for when
your Auntie Anna calls in unexpectedly.
Hide the jar of instant coffee in case
she comes into the kitchen & dust off
the old metal coffee pot that unscrews in the middle.
Put out that panettone you got at Christmas
then watch as she scoffs all the Tunnock’s Teacakes.
Learn to sidle down side streets or
melt into shop doorways when you see
old Mr D’Ambrosio coming because, despite
the fact he’s lived here for over sixty years,
you still can’t make out a word he’s saying.
Be prepared to serve sausage rolls & salami di Milano
at Hogmanay parties & give equal play time
to Jimmy Shand & Dean Martin.
You’re just trying to keep everyone happy.
Listen politely to your Auntie Carmen from Coatbridge
when she phones at three in the morning to ask
if everything’s okay because she’s had a dream
about you & the number 62
which signifies death & pestilence.
Try unsuccessfully to get back to sleep.
Feel torn when Italy is playing Scotland at football
until the crowd starts to sing ‘Flower of Scotland’
and a wee tear runs down your cheek.
Try not to get bitter that you never knew
your Italian granddad because during the war
he was taken away by two Scottish policemen
in the middle of the night, herded onto a ship
and was lost at sea when it was torpedoed.
Churchill was just trying to keep everyone happy.

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312d

nudity

Edited 312d ago

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311d

<p>Whether the weather be dreich or fair, my luve,<br>if guid times greet us, or we hae tae face the worst,<br>ahint and afore whit will happen tae us:<br>blind in the present, eyes open to the furore…</p><p>—Jackie Kay, “A Lang Promise”<br>published in BANTAM (Picador, 2017)</p><p>A poem for Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️</p><p><a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/jackie-kay/bantam/9781509887927" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.panmacmillan.com/authors/jackie-kay/bantam/9781509887927"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.panmacmillan.com/authors/j</span><span class="invisible">ackie-kay/bantam/9781509887927</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/love/" rel="tag">#love</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/pride/" rel="tag">#Pride</a> <a href="/tags/pridemonth/" rel="tag">#PrideMonth</a> <a href="/tags/jackiekay/" rel="tag">#JackieKay</a></p>

A Lang Promise
Jackie Kay

Whether the weather be dreich or fair, my luve,
if guid times greet us, or we hae tae face the worst,
ahint and afore whit will happen tae us:
blind in the present, eyes open to the furore,
unkempt or perjink, suddenly puir or poorly,
peely-wally or in fine fettle, beld or frosty,
calm as a ghoul or in a feery-farry,
in dork December or in springy spring weather,
doon by the Barrows, on the Champs-Elysees,
at midnicht, first licht, whether the mune
be roond or crescent, and yer o’ soond mind
or absent, I’ll tak your trusty haun
and lead you over the haw – hame, ma darlin.
I’ll carry ma lantern, and daur defend ye agin ony foe;
and whilst there is breath in me, I’ll blaw it intae ye.
Fir ye are ma true luve, the bonnie face I see;
nichts I fall intae slumber, it’s ye swimming up
in all yer guidness and blitheness, yer passion.
You’ll be mine, noo, an’ till the end o’ time,
ma bonnie lassie, I’ll tak the full guid o’ ye’
and gie it back, and gie it back tae ye:
a furst kiss, a lang promise, time’s gowden ring.

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324d

<p>In a little rainy mist of white and grey<br>we sat under an old tree,<br>drank tea toasts to the powdery mountain…</p><p>—Edwin Morgan, “The Picnic”<br>published in COLLECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 1990)</p><p>Today, 21 May, is International Tea Day <br><a href="https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781847779656/collected-poems/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.carcanet.co.uk/9781847779656/collected-poems/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.carcanet.co.uk/97818477796</span><span class="invisible">56/collected-poems/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/tea/" rel="tag">#tea</a> <a href="/tags/internationalteaday/" rel="tag">#InternationalTeaDay</a></p>

The Picnic
by Edwin Morgan

In a little rainy mist of white and grey
we sat under an old tree,
drank tea toasts to the powdery mountain,
undrunk got merry, played catch
with the empty flask, on the pine needles
came down to where it rolled stealthily away –
you lay
with one arm in the rain, laughing
shaking only your wet hair
loose against the grass, in that enchanted place
of tea, with curtains of a summer rain
dropped round us, for a rainy day.

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297d

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1816.</p><p>At the Villa Diodati, Lord Byron reads Fantasmagoriana to Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori, then challenges each to write a ghost story, culminating in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, John Polidori’s story “The Vampyre,” and Byron’s poem “Darkness.” </p><p>Fantasmagoriana:<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasmagoriana" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasmagoriana"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasma</span><span class="invisible">goriana</span></a></p><p>The Vampyre:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6087" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6087</a></p><p>Frankenstein:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/84" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/84</a></p><p>Darkness:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20158" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20158</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

(Left to Right):
Mary Shelley: She wears a dark gown with a bare neckline, consistent with early 19th-century fashion.

Her image likely comes from Richard Rothwell’s 1840 posthumous portrait.

John Polidori: The author of The Vampyre (1819), often considered the first modern vampire story. He appears youthful, with curly dark hair and a romantic expression.

Claire Clairmont: The stepsister of Mary Shelley and mother of Lord Byron’s daughter, Allegra. She is depicted with reddish-brown curls and wearing a modest white dress.

Percy Bysshe Shelley: The radical Romantic poet known for Prometheus Unbound and Ode to the West Wind. He is shown with intense eyes and a loosely worn open shirt and dark coat.

Lord Byron: He is shown in a contemplative pose with his hand to his face, wearing a deep red coat—this mirrors Thomas Phillips’s famous portrait of Byron.

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310d

<p>Archie Hind (1928–2008), author of THE DEAR GREEN PLACE (1966), was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 3 June</p><p>“The only other 20th-century novel I know that places a writer’s struggle in an equally well-imagined city is Nabokov’s THE GIFT”<br>—Alasdair Gray</p><p><a href="https://www.scotswhayhae.com/post/with-hind-s-sight-a-review-of-archie-hind-s-the-dear-green-place" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scotswhayhae.com/post/with-hind-s-sight-a-review-of-archie-hind-s-the-dear-green-place"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scotswhayhae.com/post/with</span><span class="invisible">-hind-s-sight-a-review-of-archie-hind-s-the-dear-green-place</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thCentury</a> <a href="/tags/novel/" rel="tag">#novel</a> <a href="/tags/glasgow/" rel="tag">#Glasgow</a></p>

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310d

<p>Moby-Dick doesn’t deserve the ‘difficult’ label – this sea romance was once loved by office workers, sailors and children</p><p>Early readers knew Moby-Dick for what it was: an extreme and ambitious form of popular genre fiction.</p><p>By Edward Sugden</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/moby-dick-doesnt-deserve-the-difficult-label-this-sea-romance-was-once-loved-by-office-workers-sailors-and-children-252764?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654+CID_883bf765c02875a3531f2b057c9fd507&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Moby-Dick%20doesnt%20deserve%20the%20difficult%20label%20%20this%20sea%20romance%20was%20once%20loved%20by%20office%20workers%20sailors%20and%20children" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/moby-dick-doesnt-deserve-the-difficult-label-this-sea-romance-was-once-loved-by-office-workers-sailors-and-children-252764?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654+CID_883bf765c02875a3531f2b057c9fd507&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Moby-Dick%20doesnt%20deserve%20the%20difficult%20label%20%20this%20sea%20romance%20was%20once%20loved%20by%20office%20workers%20sailors%20and%20children"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/moby-dick-</span><span class="invisible">doesnt-deserve-the-difficult-label-this-sea-romance-was-once-loved-by-office-workers-sailors-and-children-252764?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654+CID_883bf765c02875a3531f2b057c9fd507&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Moby-Dick%20doesnt%20deserve%20the%20difficult%20label%20%20this%20sea%20romance%20was%20once%20loved%20by%20office%20workers%20sailors%20and%20children</span></a></p><p>Moby Dick at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/literarycriticism/" rel="tag">#literarycriticism</a></p>

Illustration of the final chase of Moby-Dick in a 1902 edition.

The scene is dramatic and chaotic, set against a stormy sea. At the center is Captain Ahab, standing defiantly on the deck of the whaleboat or leaning forward with harpoon raised, his face twisted with obsession and fury.

The great white whale, Moby-Dick, dominates the composition—immense, ghostly pale, and terrifying, thrashing violently as it breaches the ocean surface.

Ahab’s ship, the Pequod, is shown in the distance or beginning to sink, impaled or struck by the whale’s massive bulk.

I. W. Taber - Moby Dick - edition: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick#/media/File:Moby_Dick_final_chase.jpg

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306d

<p>Aonghas Dubh – Ceòl às na Briathran<br>The poet & writer Aonghas MacNeacail (1942–2022) was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 7 June. This programme, originally aired on the BBC, is drawn from “Skerries, Trawlings, Tides” – a literary event celebrating Aonghas’s 80th birthday</p><p>1/2</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAb0LdDuaSk" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAb0LdDuaSk"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAb0Ld</span><span class="invisible">DuaSk</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a></p>

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306d

<p>“[Milne’s] cryogenics story, ‘Ten Thousand Years in Ice’, in which a survivor from an ancient advanced civilisation is revived in the present, unintentionally became one of science fiction’s great literary hoaxes”</p><p>Robert Duncan Milne (1844–1899) was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 7 June, in Cupar, Fife. He emigrated to the USA & became America’s first full-time writer of science fiction </p><p>1/5</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/remembering-the-lost-father-of-american-science-fiction-and-his-scottish-roots-78968" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/remembering-the-lost-father-of-american-science-fiction-and-his-scottish-roots-78968"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/rememberin</span><span class="invisible">g-the-lost-father-of-american-science-fiction-and-his-scottish-roots-78968</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/sciencefiction/" rel="tag">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="/tags/scifi/" rel="tag">#scifi</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a></p>

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53d

<p>The Cross-Dressing Marquess Who Made Arthur Conan Doyle Turn Detective</p><p>"Henry Paget, the fifth Marquess of Anglesey, who loved expensive costumes and jewelry, turned to Arthur Conan Doyle when his jewels mysteriously disappeared"</p><p><a href="https://www.thecollector.com/henry-paget-arthur-conan-doyle/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thecollector.com/henry-paget-arthur-conan-doyle/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thecollector.com/henry-pag</span><span class="invisible">et-arthur-conan-doyle/</span></a></p><p>Books by Doyle at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/69" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/69"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/69</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtqia/" rel="tag">#lgbtqia</a></p>

"Photo portrait of Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey by John Wickens" - picryl.com

He is dressed in a theatrical costume. It is a long stripped robe with an elaborate headdress. He is holding a stick with ribbons tied around it.

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