literature

112d

<p>Some December midnight<br>Christ, lord, lie warm in our byre.<br>Here are stars, an ox, poverty enough.</p><p>—George Mackay Brown, “A Child’s Calendar”<br>published in FISHERMEN WITH PLOUGHS (Hogarth Press 1971)</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/christmas/" rel="tag">#Christmas</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/orkney/" rel="tag">#Orkney</a></p>

A Child's Calendar
George Mackay Brown

No visitors in January.
A snowman smokes a cold pipe in the yard.

They stand about like ancient women,
The February hills.
They have seen many a coming and going, the hills.

In March Moorfea is littered
With knock-kneed lambs.

Daffodils at the door in April,
Three shawled Marys.
A lark splurges in galilees of sky.

And in May
A russet stallion shoulders the hill apart.
The mares tremble.

The June bee
Bumps in the pane with a heavy bag of plunder.

Strangers swarm in July
With cameras, binoculars, bird books.

He thumped the crag in August,
A blind blue whale.

September crofts get wrecked in blond surges.
They struggle, the harvesters.
They drag loaf and ale-kirn into winter.

In October the fishmonger
Argues, pleads, threatens at the shore.

Nothing in November
But tinkers at the door, keening, with cans.

Some December midnight
Christ, lord, lie warm in our byre.
Here are stars, an ox, poverty enough.

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112d

<p>Think you know Hans Christian Andersen? Four experts pick his weirdest fairy tales to read this Christmas</p><p>By Ane Grum-Schwensen, Holger Berg, Jacob Bøggild and Sarah Bienko Eriksen</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/think-you-know-hans-christian-andersen-four-experts-pick-his-weirdest-fairy-tales-to-read-this-christmas-270725?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20December%2015%202025%20-%203618036937&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20December%2015%202025%20-%203618036937+CID_56e9e58f2a4c2b638ff45c2b60003d5f&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Think%20you%20know%20Hans%20Christian%20Andersen%20Four%20experts%20pick%20his%20weirdest%20fairy%20tales%20to%20read%20this%20Christmas" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/think-you-know-hans-christian-andersen-four-experts-pick-his-weirdest-fairy-tales-to-read-this-christmas-270725?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20December%2015%202025%20-%203618036937&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20December%2015%202025%20-%203618036937+CID_56e9e58f2a4c2b638ff45c2b60003d5f&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Think%20you%20know%20Hans%20Christian%20Andersen%20Four%20experts%20pick%20his%20weirdest%20fairy%20tales%20to%20read%20this%20Christmas"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/think-you-</span><span class="invisible">know-hans-christian-andersen-four-experts-pick-his-weirdest-fairy-tales-to-read-this-christmas-270725?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20December%2015%202025%20-%203618036937&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20December%2015%202025%20-%203618036937+CID_56e9e58f2a4c2b638ff45c2b60003d5f&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Think%20you%20know%20Hans%20Christian%20Andersen%20Four%20experts%20pick%20his%20weirdest%20fairy%20tales%20to%20read%20this%20Christmas</span></a></p><p>Andersen at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2298" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2298"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/2298</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

The superstitious mother was an archetype, but Andersen’s depiction is shaped by memories of his own mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter. Illustration by Lorenz Frölich. The Hans Christian Andersen Centre.

This illustration by Lorenz Frölich depicts a scene from Hans Christian Andersen's writing, showing the archetype of the superstitious mother - a characterization influenced by Andersen's own mother, Anne Marie Andersdatter. The historical artwork is held at The Hans Christian Andersen Centre and represents the personal biographical elements that shaped Andersen's literary work.

https://hca.sdu.dk/tales/index.html

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1y

<p>English poet and novelist Letitia Elizabeth Landon died <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1838.</p><p>Her first major breakthrough came with The Improvisatrice and thence she developed the metrical romance towards the Victorian ideal of the Victorian monologue, influencing fellow English writers such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning, Alfred Tennyson and Christina Rossetti.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letitia_Elizabeth_Landon" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letitia_Elizabeth_Landon"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letitia_</span><span class="invisible">Elizabeth_Landon</span></a></p><p>Books about Letitia Elizabeth Landon at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56166" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56166</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>

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–1838); variation of the original painting by Daniel Maclise.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L.E.L.) was a renowned English poet and novelist of the early 19th century, known for her Romantic works. In the portrait by Daniel Maclise, she is depicted with a delicate and refined appearance, typical of Romantic portraiture of the time. The original shows her seated gracefully, with soft curls framing her face, gazing thoughtfully into the distance. Her attire consists of elegant 19th-century clothing, with rich textures and details.

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91d

<p>Dictionary of the Oldest Written Language–It Took 90 Years to Complete, and It’s Now Free Online</p><p><a href="https://www.openculture.com/2026/01/dictionary-of-the-oldest-written-language-free-online.html#google_vignette" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.openculture.com/2026/01/dictionary-of-the-oldest-written-language-free-online.html#google_vignette"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.openculture.com/2026/01/di</span><span class="invisible">ctionary-of-the-oldest-written-language-free-online.html#google_vignette</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/language/" rel="tag">#language</a></p>

Reading glasses on top of an open dictionary

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15d

<p>I still think that Dylan Thomas' "Fern Hill" is a perfect poem... So I'm sharing it here, if you need a poem today. Maybe read it out loud, it's got such a lovely music to it. </p><p><a href="https://poets.org/poem/fern-hill" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>poets.org/poem/fern-hill</a> </p><p><a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/mastopoets/" rel="tag">#mastopoets</a> <a href="/tags/wales/" rel="tag">#wales</a> <a href="/tags/autisticjoy/" rel="tag">#autisticJoy</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

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108d

<p>He has gone down into darkness at the wrecked end of the year<br>And is lying, gaberlunzie, in the needled nest of frost… </p><p>—Gerry Cambridge, “Processional at the Winter Solstice”<br>published in Notes for Lighting a Fire (HappenStance Press 2012)</p><p><a href="https://happenstancepress.com/index.php/shop/product/4-notes-for-lighting-a-fire-gerry-cambridge/category_pathway-12" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="happenstancepress.com/index.php/shop/product/4-notes-for-lighting-a-fire-gerry-cambridge/category_pathway-12"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">happenstancepress.com/index.ph</span><span class="invisible">p/shop/product/4-notes-for-lighting-a-fire-gerry-cambridge/category_pathway-12</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/midwinter/" rel="tag">#midwinter</a> <a href="/tags/solstice/" rel="tag">#solstice</a></p>

Processional at the Winter Solstice
by Gerry Cambridge

He has gone down into darkness at the wrecked end of the year
And is lying, gaberlunzie, in the needled nest of frost.
The arctic thrushes call for him although he cannot hear,

And the worm too understands him in the chilled grip of its dark,
And the ptarmigan in blizzards where no thought is worth a crumb,
And treecreepers in shivering puffs in Wellingtonias’ bark.

Shop windows glint in city lights like ice and sky, but still
No tinsel gifts can touch him, freed to silence like a stone’s;
His face is white as paper’s white in miles-high midnight chill.

He lies as plain as frost-dust where those starving thrushes call,
And his lime and ray-struck armoury could hardly be less small
On the anvil of beginnings in the sun’s gate on the wall.

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110d

<p>Virginia Woolf Thought Katharine Mansfield Stank Like a “Civet Cat Taken to Streetwalking”</p><p>Gerri Kimber on the Literary Legacy of an Early Master of the Short Form</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/virginia-woolf-thought-katharine-mansfield-stank-like-a-civet-cat-taken-to-streetwalking/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/virginia-woolf-thought-katharine-mansfield-stank-like-a-civet-cat-taken-to-streetwalking/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/virginia-woolf-thou</span><span class="invisible">ght-katharine-mansfield-stank-like-a-civet-cat-taken-to-streetwalking/</span></a></p><p>Mansfield & Woolf at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/631" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/631"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/631</span></a><br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/89" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/89"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/89</span></a></p><p>#<a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Katherine Mansfield, a New Zealand-writer of short stories. Picture taken 1912.

A 1912 photograph of Katherine Mansfield, the acclaimed New Zealand short story writer. The formal portrait shows Mansfield during her early literary career, before she became one of the modernist movement's most influential voices in short fiction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Mansfield#/media/File:Mansfield1.jpg

Portrait of Virginia Woolf (January 25, 1882 – March 28, 1941), a British author and feminist, with her chignon. By George Charles Beresford.

The 1902 portrait by George Charles Beresford captures Virginia striking image, with her famous chignon, reflecting her distinctive style and the aesthetics of the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Woolf#/media/File:George_Charles_Beresford_-_Virginia_Woolf_in_1902_-_Restoration.jpg

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90d

<p>Medieval Self-Portraits: Ten Artists Who Put Themselves in the Picture</p><p>Medieval artists did not just paint saints and kings—they sometimes slipped themselves into the scene, leaving behind portraits that can be devotional, witty, and surprisingly personal. </p><p><a href="https://www.medievalists.net/2026/01/medieval-self-portraits-ten-artists-who-put-themselves-in-the-picture/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.medievalists.net/2026/01/medieval-self-portraits-ten-artists-who-put-themselves-in-the-picture/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.medievalists.net/2026/01/m</span><span class="invisible">edieval-self-portraits-ten-artists-who-put-themselves-in-the-picture/</span></a></p><p>Medieval artists at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=medieval+artists" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=medieval+artists"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=medieval+artists</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/painting/" rel="tag">#painting</a></p>

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1y

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1911.</p><p>German novelist Hans Fallada, kills his best friend in a suicide pact staged as a duel.</p><p>Fallada made a pact with a friend, Hanns Dietrich von Necker, to stage a duel to mask their suicides, feeling that the duel would be seen as more honorable. However, because of both boys' inexperience with weapons, it was a bungled affair. Dietrich missed Fallada, but Fallada did not miss Dietrich, killing him. </p><p>Hans Fallada at Projekt Gutenberg-DE<br><a href="https://www.projekt-gutenberg.org/autoren/namen/fallada.html" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.projekt-gutenberg.org/autoren/namen/fallada.html"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.projekt-gutenberg.org/auto</span><span class="invisible">ren/namen/fallada.html</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

German writer Hans Fallada (1893–1947), depicted in Bonniers litterära magasin Nr.6, 1936.

In the image, Fallada appears as a middle-aged man with a solid, slightly rounded face. His expression is calm yet intense, reflecting a contemplative nature and the inner turmoil often associated with his life and writing. His eyes, framed by slightly heavy eyelids, have a distant, introspective gaze, as if lost in thought. His short, dark hair is combed neatly, and his face bears a mustache, common to his appearance in the 1930s.

Fallada's attire is formal but modest, in keeping with the style of the time. He is dressed in a suit with a high-collared shirt and a simple tie, perhaps signaling his role as a respected writer while also hinting at his working-class sensibilities. The black-and-white portrait from Bonniers litterära magasin emphasizes sharp contrasts, with Fallada's face and suit emerging starkly from the background, highlighting his features with a sense of gravity and weight.

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1y

<p>"The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself."</p><p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1847.</p><p>Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is published (as "an autobiography, edited by Currer Bell") in London by Smith, Elder & Co. in 3 volumes.</p><p>The first American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Eyre" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Eyre"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Eyr</span><span class="invisible">e</span></a></p><p>Jane Eyre at PG:<br><a href="https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1260" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>gutenberg.org/ebooks/1260</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

The title page to the original publication of Jane Eyre, including Brontë's pseudonym "Currer Bell".

St John Rivers admits Jane to Moor House, illustration by F. H. Townsend

F. H. Townsend, 1868-1920 - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1260/1260-h/images/

"Hush, Hannah! I have a word to say to the woman.

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1y

<p>"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own."</p><p>Irish writer Jonathan Swift died <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1745.</p><p>Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, Gulliver's Travels, & A Modest Proposal. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms—including Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M. B. Drapier—or anonymously. </p><p>Books by Jonathan Swift at PG<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/326" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/326"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/326</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Charles Jervas portrait of Jonathan Swift.

In the portrait, Swift is shown as a middle-aged man, with his characteristic rounded face and full, expressive features. His hair, worn in long, flowing curls, is typical of the wigs of the early 18th century, a fashion among men of high status. His gaze is direct, with piercing, intelligent eyes that convey both a sharp wit and deep contemplation, traits often associated with his satirical writing.

Swift is dressed in clerical attire, signifying his role as a clergyman within the Church of Ireland. He wears a dark robe with a white clerical collar, which contrasts against the rich, dark tones of his clothing.

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110d

<p>The NEW SCIENTIST Book Club is reading the science-fiction masterpiece THE PLAYER OF GAMES by Iain M. Banks. In this video, Iain’s friend & fellow author Ken MacLeod discusses everything from how the pair met as teenagers at school to Banks’s literary influences, & even his idea for a final novel set in the universe of the Culture.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7OW6A8XCgg" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7OW6A8XCgg"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7OW6A</span><span class="invisible">8XCgg</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/iainbanks/" rel="tag">#IainBanks</a> <a href="/tags/iainmbanks/" rel="tag">#IainMBanks</a> <a href="/tags/theculture/" rel="tag">#TheCulture</a></p>

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40d

<p>The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgeson Burnett was an early work of climate fiction</p><p>by Davina Quinlivan (from the archives)</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-secret-garden-by-frances-hodgeson-burnett-was-an-early-work-of-climate-fiction-250338" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/the-secret-garden-by-frances-hodgeson-burnett-was-an-early-work-of-climate-fiction-250338"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/the-secret</span><span class="invisible">-garden-by-frances-hodgeson-burnett-was-an-early-work-of-climate-fiction-250338</span></a></p><p>The Secret Garden at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17396" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17396</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Cover page The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A hardcover book with a dark green cloth binding decorated with Art Nouveau-style floral borders in gold and muted colours running down both sides. A central rectangular illustration shows a young girl in a bright red coat and red hat, leaning forward and peering closely at a dense ivy-covered wall or hedge. Bare winter trees are visible in the background, and a small red robin perches on a branch to the upper left. The title THE SECRET GARDEN appears at the top in a decorative panel, and the author's name FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT is printed at the bottom.

Edited 39d ago

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90d

<p>This was the year before the year<br>that collapsed on us, a roof brought down by snow.<br>The year of riding through abandoned stations<br>on the riverside line that never crossed the river<br>but danced among warehouses, silos and factories (deceased)<br>beside battleships settling into red mud…</p><p>—Pippa Little, “This Was the Year”<br>published in OVERWINTERING (Carcanet, 2012)</p><p><a href="https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781906188061/overwintering/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.carcanet.co.uk/9781906188061/overwintering/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.carcanet.co.uk/97819061880</span><span class="invisible">61/overwintering/</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></p>

This Was the Year
by Pippa Little

This was the year before the year
that collapsed on us, a roof brought down by snow.
The year of riding through abandoned stations
on the riverside line that never crossed the river
but danced among warehouses, silos and factories (deceased)
beside battleships settling into red mud.
This was the year that, too exhausted to sleep,
I boiled down the pink and ivory and blue of other women’s hands
into a single grey slab. The soap pot next the soup,
fumes of gardenia and bone.
This was the year we were always coming home.
Three steps and a garden where the splayed trike in the frost said
better to have careless love than none at all.
This was the year before the year
I found out that we are fused from lightning, our bodies
maps across which electrical storms flare
and move on. This was the year
extremely far rooftops and lit windows
seen from a plane flying its late night mission
had their glow zapped by pinball fire.
This was the year I closed the door underneath the porch light
and stood out on the first of the three front steps, listening.
Our children’s beds expecting their bodies
to come warm them like small fires
but growing cold with waiting.

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109d

<p>‘From her pen sprang unforgettable females’: 16th-century Spanish author’s knight’s tale given reboot</p><p>Beatriz Bernal’s pioneering novel features brave, chivalrous women who ride dragons and her adapter wants his illustrated version to reach young readers</p><p>By Sam Jones</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/20/16th-century-spanish-author-beatriz-bernal-knights-tale-given-reboot" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/20/16th-century-spanish-author-beatriz-bernal-knights-tale-given-reboot"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.theguardian.com/world/2025</span><span class="invisible">/dec/20/16th-century-spanish-author-beatriz-bernal-knights-tale-given-reboot</span></a></p><p>Spanish literature at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=spanish+literature" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=spanish+literature"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subje</span><span class="invisible">cts/search/?query=spanish+literature</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

On the left, cover of the first edition of Don Cristalián (Valladolid, 1545). On the right, its second edition (Alcalá de Henares, 1586).

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109d

<p>“If your morals make you dreary, depend upon it they are wrong. I do not say ‘give them up,’ for they may be all you have; but conceal them like a vice, lest they should spoil the lives of better and simpler people.”</p><p>—Robert Louis Stevenson, “A Christmas Sermon”</p><p>1/4</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/christmas/" rel="tag">#Christmas</a></p>

A double-page spread of an ornate layout of Stevenson’s “A Christmas Sermon” – a limited edition with gilded title, rules & initial capitals, by John Henry Nash (San Francisco, 1928)

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109d

<p>“He looks much older than he is, for it is not quite twenty years ago that Johnnie founded the Society for the Abolition of Christmas”</p><p>—Muriel Spark, “The Leaf-Sweeper”<br>in THE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES, published by <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> </p><p>1/2</p><p><a href="https://canongate.co.uk/books/1371-the-complete-short-stories/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="canongate.co.uk/books/1371-the-complete-short-stories/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">canongate.co.uk/books/1371-the</span><span class="invisible">-complete-short-stories/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/murielspark/" rel="tag">#MurielSpark</a> <a href="/tags/christmas/" rel="tag">#Christmas</a> <a href="/tags/shortstory/" rel="tag">#shortstory</a> <a href="/tags/shortstory/" rel="tag">#shortstory</a> <a href="/tags/womenwriters/" rel="tag">#womenwriters</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a></p>

THE LEAF-SWEEPER

Behind the town hall there is a wooded parkland which, towards the end of November, begins to draw a thin blue cloud right into itself; and as a rule the park floats in this haze until mid-February. I pass every day, and see Johnnie Geddes in the heart of this mist, sweeping up the leaves. Now and again he stops, and jerking his long head erect, looks indignantly at the pile of leaves, as if it ought not to be there; then he sweeps on. This business of leaf-sweeping he learnt during the years he spent in the asylum; it was the job they always gave him to do; and when he was discharged the town council gave him the leaves to sweep. But the indignant movement of the head comes naturally to him, for this has been one of his habits since he was the most promising and buoyant and vociferous graduate of his year. He looks much older than he is, for it is not quite twenty years ago that Johnnie founded the Society for the Abolition of Christmas.

Johnnie was living with his aunt then. I was at school, and in the Christmas holidays Miss Geddes gave me her nephew's pamphlet, How to Grow Rich at Christmas. It sounded very likely, but it turned out that you grow rich at Christmas by doing away […]

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109d

<p>Anette Degott’s talk ‘“No Extra Words” – The Scottish Poet Norman MacCaig (1910–1996)’, recorded on 16 December</p><p>@litstudies </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3OGDm8x6ak" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3OGDm8x6ak"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3OGDm</span><span class="invisible">8x6ak</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/normanmaccaig/" rel="tag">#NormanMacCaig</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a></p>

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1y

<p>German novelist and translator Dorothea von Schlegel was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1764.</p><p>She met the poet & critic Friedrich von Schlegel in the salon of her friend Henriette Herz in 1797, after which Dorothea divorced Simon Veit in 1799.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_von_Schlegel" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_von_Schlegel"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea</span><span class="invisible">_von_Schlegel</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Dorothea von Schlegel; portrait by Anton Graff (c.1790) Anton Graff - Own work, anagoria

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107d

<p>A controversial bestseller</p><p>Michael Gold's bestselling novel Jews Without Money depicts the plight of poor East European immigrants in New York. It resonated with readers in 1930 facing not-yet-fully-acknowledged impacts of the Depression.<br> <br>By John Mark Ockerbloom</p><p><a href="https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/12/21/a-controversial-bestseller/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="everybodyslibraries.com/2025/12/21/a-controversial-bestseller/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">everybodyslibraries.com/2025/1</span><span class="invisible">2/21/a-controversial-bestseller/</span></a></p><p>More information:<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_without_Money" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_without_Money"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_wit</span><span class="invisible">hout_Money</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/publicdomaindaycountdown/" rel="tag">#publicDomainDayCountdown</a></p>

Cover of the 1930 novel Jews without Money by Michael Gold

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_without_Money#/media/File:Cover_of_the_1930_novel_Jews_without_Money_by_Michael_Gold.jpg

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37d

<p>SAILMAKER by Alan Spence<br>March/April 2026, multiple venues<br>Presented by The Gaiety Theatre in association with the Beacon Arts Centre</p><p>A poignant, poetic, & deeply human play that explores themes of family, grief, masculinity, & working-class life in Glasgow.</p><p><a href="https://thegaiety.co.uk/events/sailmaker-by-alan-spence-presented-by-the-gaiety-in-association-with-beacon-arts-centre/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="thegaiety.co.uk/events/sailmaker-by-alan-spence-presented-by-the-gaiety-in-association-with-beacon-arts-centre/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">thegaiety.co.uk/events/sailmak</span><span class="invisible">er-by-alan-spence-presented-by-the-gaiety-in-association-with-beacon-arts-centre/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/drama/" rel="tag">#drama</a> <a href="/tags/theatre/" rel="tag">#theatre</a></p>

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68d

<p>It is late January and at last the snow.<br>I lie back dreaming about Glencoe<br>as fluent, hungry, dressed in red,<br>you climb up and over me…</p><p>—Andrew Greig, “The Winter Climbing”<br>Published in Getting Higher: The Complete Mountain Poems (Polygon, 2011)</p><p><a href="https://birlinn.co.uk/product/getting-higher-2/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="birlinn.co.uk/product/getting-higher-2/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">birlinn.co.uk/product/getting-</span><span class="invisible">higher-2/</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/mountains/" rel="tag">#mountains</a> <a href="/tags/mountaineering/" rel="tag">#mountaineering</a> <a href="/tags/climbing/" rel="tag">#climbing</a> <a href="/tags/winter/" rel="tag">#winter</a> <a href="/tags/glencoe/" rel="tag">#Glencoe</a></p>

The Winter Climbing
Andrew Greig

It is late January and at last the snow.
I lie back dreaming about Glencoe
as fluent, hungry, dressed in red,
you climb up and over me. That passion
claimed the darkest, useless months
for risk and play. You rise
up on me, I rise through you ...

The shadowed face of Aonach Dubh
where Mal first took me climbing
and as we clanked exhausted, happy,
downwards through the dark, I asked
“What route was that?” “Call it
what you want – it’s new.”

You reach the top and exit out;
from way above, your cry comes down.
The rope pulls tight. What shall we call
this new thing we’re about?
These days we live in taking
care and chances. Why name it?
My heart is in my mouth as I shout Climbing ...

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108d

<p>Did Charles Dickens see A Christmas Carol as an anti-slavery story?</p><p>A Christmas Carol is usually read as a Victorian morality tale about capitalism and compassion. Yet an autographed script written by Charles Dickens during the American Civil War raises the possibility he may also have understood the story as speaking to the cause of ending slavery in the US.</p><p>By Lucy Whitehead</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/did-charles-dickens-see-a-christmas-carol-as-an-anti-slavery-story-272292" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/did-charles-dickens-see-a-christmas-carol-as-an-anti-slavery-story-272292"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/did-charle</span><span class="invisible">s-dickens-see-a-christmas-carol-as-an-anti-slavery-story-272292</span></a></p><p>Christmas Carol at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

"The Ghost of Christmas Present" from the original edition, 1843

Scrooge's third visitor, from Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. With Illustrations by John Leech. London: Chapman & Hall, 1843. First edition. This image is one of four hand-coloured etchings included in the first edition.

The illustration depicts the Ghost of Christmas Present as a jolly giant robed in green, surrounded by festive abundance including food and drink.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol#/media/File:Scrooges_third_visitor-John_Leech,1843.jpg

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108d

<p>"Art is at least in part a way of collecting information about the universe. "<br>The Strange Necessity: Essays and Reviews (1928)</p><p>~Rebecca West, born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1892.</p><p>About Rebecca West:<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_West" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_West"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_</span><span class="invisible">West</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Rebecca West papers.

The image is a black-and-white, grainy portrait photograph, likely from the early 20th century. It shows a young woman in close-up, facing slightly to the viewer’s left, with a calm, serious, and introspective expression. Her gaze is steady and directed just past the camera.

She wears an ornate, beaded headpiece that fits closely around her head and extends down the sides, with strands of beads hanging near her ears. Her hair is mostly concealed beneath it. She is dressed in a dark garment with a simple neckline, which contrasts with her pale complexion and draws attention to her face.

https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/collections/highlights/rebecca-west-papers

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108d

<p>At Marcel Proust's table</p><p>To immerse oneself in In Search of Lost Time is a bit like becoming a guest of the narrator. The table plays a significant role in the novel, perpetuating a distinctly French literary tradition, evident at least since Rabelais.</p><p>By Junko Meguro</p><p><a href="https://essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/article/bf46724d-829b-4391-85e1-2efbce656fd6-table-marcel-proust?fbclid=IwVERFWAO0ipZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeuo9WZsk_SJ-_hI_7LiBjP3WDozkF_DuWHzmybBHIoHBBGBObdz9YFDA0FKM_aem_-N3e4IEhNZb99CCDERQs_g" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/article/bf46724d-829b-4391-85e1-2efbce656fd6-table-marcel-proust?fbclid=IwVERFWAO0ipZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeuo9WZsk_SJ-_hI_7LiBjP3WDozkF_DuWHzmybBHIoHBBGBObdz9YFDA0FKM_aem_-N3e4IEhNZb99CCDERQs_g"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">essentiels.bnf.fr/fr/article/b</span><span class="invisible">f46724d-829b-4391-85e1-2efbce656fd6-table-marcel-proust?fbclid=IwVERFWAO0ipZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeuo9WZsk_SJ-_hI_7LiBjP3WDozkF_DuWHzmybBHIoHBBGBObdz9YFDA0FKM_aem_-N3e4IEhNZb99CCDERQs_g</span></a></p><p>In Search of Lost Time at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=+In+Search+of+Lost+Time" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=+In+Search+of+Lost+Time"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=+In+Search+of+Lost+Time</span></a><br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=a+la+recherche+du+temps+perdu" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=a+la+recherche+du+temps+perdu"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=a+la+recherche+du+temps+perdu</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/cooking/" rel="tag">#cooking</a></p>

Marcel Proust in 1895.

A formal black and white portrait photograph of Marcel Proust taken in 1895, showing the young French novelist at age 24 with his characteristic mustache, slicked hair, and contemplative pose with hand near his chin.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%80_la_recherche_du_temps_perdu#/media/Fichier:Marcel_Proust_1895.jpg

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