Gwendoline Riley is flavour of the month with her new novel. It may be great - that shouldn't allow her to get away with the mean-spirited, petty reading of Beryl Bainbridge's oeuvre she published in the last issue of the TLS. Good to see this robust response from Jane Thomas in this week's letters.

Gwendoline Riley is flavour of the month with her new novel. It may be great - that shouldn't allow her to get away with the mean-spirited, petty reading of Beryl Bainbridge's oeuvre she published in the last issue of the TLS. Good to see this robust response from Jane Thomas in this week's letters.

This is quite a find: rare footage of the Velvets playing at an anti-war protest in 1969, ingeniously synced to audio from a gig recorded a few days later (thanks @jimstwentyone.bsky.social)

"It is the nexus of both of these impulses – to chase down every allusion, and to chase every word to the end of its line – which activates the obscure alchemy of Prynne’s poetry." Decent essay, particularly in reference to the annotated version of 'The Oval Window'.

I saw Burnham speak last time he campaigned to be Labour leader and he was crap, an automaton. There is a mayor with a stellar record in an even higher profile post who would potentially be a very good PM. Sadiq Khan. Why is nobody pressing him to stand, I wonder? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Really want to support The Green Party but what's Zack Polanski doing, posting on X? Asking for trouble and displaying weak judgement by his mere presence there. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Vinyl income 5.5%, streaming 82%. Why the "vinyl revival" is a myth for indies & can cause new problems. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/m...

Impressed by Small Island at @nottmplayhouse.bsky.social The fifteen strong cast got a deserved standing ovation for this engrossing, imaginative adaptation of Andrea Levy's novel, bringing 1940s Jamaica and London into vivid life. Go see. nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/events/small...

If you've not already seen this link, it's well worth a read. Is the age of music streaming nearly over or is that just wishful thinking? Discuss. open.substack.com/pub/joelgouv...

Many tributes to J.H. Prynne this week, as there should be. One of the best is from Ian Patterson. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ap...

So sorry to hear of the death of J.H. Prynne, whose work I've followed closely for 48 years. He taught two of my friends at Caius, his poems provoking endless conversation & bemused stimulation. He was a friend of Stanley Middleton, from whom I inherited this dedicated book. 'Oh, the world.' R.I.P.

So sorry to hear of the death of J.H. Prynne, whose work I've followed closely for 48 years. He taught two of my friends at Caius, his poems provoking endless conversation & bemused stimulation. He was a friend of Stanley Middleton, from whom I inherited this dedicated book. 'Oh, the world.' R.I.P.

Outstanding sold out show by @joshuaidehen.bsky.social at Nottingham's Rescue Rooms last night: part poetry & pure positivity, a charismatic preacher putting together his own church with discourse & dance. Go see. Here's a taste.

After closing during Covid, Sherwood’s new library opens at last. Going in!

After closing during Covid, Sherwood’s new library opens at last. Going in!

This is all very well (and I almost always do it) but if you use an iPad and click on the alt text or expand an image, you're thrust back to the top of your feed, so I hardly ever click do. It's by far @bluesky's biggest flaw. Keep losing my place after forgetting not to open something interesting.

Bob Dylan and the Beatles: When the Fab Four Became the Fab Five. Francine Prose on a new book which evidently traces every connection between his Bobness & The Beatles. Gift link. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/b...

When should you reply to inaccurate criticism? Bitter but good writing from Laura Thompson. open.substack.com/pub/lauratho...

Afterword. Some reflections on writing a serialised novel about Graham Greene's four months in Nottingham a hundred years ago. open.substack.com/pub/davidbel...

Saw Soul to Soul @broadwaycinema.bsky.social 3 extra showings have been added today. Unmissable treat for soul fans. Tremendous Ghana footage. A troupe of stars play a huge show on their first visit to Africa. Ike & Tina Turner + The Staple Singers are incredible. www.broadway.org.uk/whats-on/sou...

I saw the first live performance of "Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)" at the Blackbushe Aerodrome in 1978. Bob would perform it 33 times that year. Also, the day Jerry Lee Lewis died, I saw him play a one off encore of "I Can't Seem To Say Goodbye" in Nottingham. Both were great.

Black or Coloured? I do still buy vinyl, albeit in single figures most years due to space issues. However it's become harder to avoid having to pick garish coloured LPs that, historically, have always sounded worse. No more, it seems, though I still prefer mine black. www.discogs.com/digs/collect...

I'm Not There. A draft lyric of Bob Dylan's best unfinished song falls out of a book by Ginsberg. Being auctioned, obvs. Follow the link to see if you can expand it and figure out for yourself how much is new. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/m...

Two years ago yesterday I saw Jon Dee Graham, RIP, for the 2nd & last time. He was in a chair but in great spirits (we chatted after). Here's my video of Something Wonderful, the song of his I first fell for, in his spiritual home, Austin's Continental Club, where he had a record breaking residency.

Jon Dee Graham died today, following many years of serious health issues. Here's a thing I wrote after I was lucky enough to see him twice at SXSW two years ago. I fell hard for his wonderful music. And him. A sweet, gruff guy. Condolences to his family & friends. www.davidbelbin.com/blog/2024/06...

RIP Chip, who has left us aged 86, and who I was lucky enough to see play a great gig in a converted barn near Southwell not long ago, accompanied by John Platania. Love this cover and so many of Chip's own songs. There was a lot more to him than just writing "Angel of the Morning" and "Wild Thing".

'Oh Mercy' was a great Dylan comeback album. I've only seen him play my favourite song from it twice, once in 90 and again in 08. Last night Bob added it to his setlist. So here's Man in the Long Black Coat, as the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour resumed in Omaha, Nebraska. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj_b...

La Grazia is Sorrentino at his best. It's well worth seeing during its short run on the big screen. In Nottingham, that's at @broadwaycinema.bsky.social www.broadway.org.uk/whats-on/la-... Tony Servillo is superb - took me right back to when I first fell for Sorrentino's movies with 2008's Il Divo.

Is anybody else having a problem with @bsky.app on iPad that any time you expand an image or make a post, the app doesn't return you to your timeline but takes you back to the latest post? It's very annoying, particularly as I only tend to look every few hours so end up doing endless scrolling back.

Who was Cecil Roberts? As popular & respected as Ian McEwan or William Boyd in his day, now remembered, if at all, as a Graham Greene footnote. And even then he was excised from 'A Sort of Life'. I explain why in this bonus post to serial novel, 'Greeneland'. davidbelbin.substack.com/p/cecil-robe...

The Empty-Handed Traveller. Love this witty new Martin Stannard poem over on Stride (and you learn some Latin). stridemagazine.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-... @imcmillan.bsky.social

This is sensationally good. Thanks, Andy. 48 years old & the instruction at the start to plug your video player into your stereo remains apposite. I'd bookmark it for now then play large & loud at the right moment (which I just found, pedalling furiously on an exercise bike). Will be watching again.

Got the day wrong for the fourth anniversary Ukraine demo and instead turned up for the first demo protesting the invasion of Iran. Couldn't understand the speeches but enjoyed the dance. And there was free food, which I resisted. Still, nice thought and good to see.

I read this recently and would have to say not. Of its time. Interestingly, my copy came from the library of the late film director Hugh Hudson (Chariots of Fire). There was a dedication from Fowles at the front which made it clear that Hudson was hoping to make a movie of it. Can't see it myself.

🔴 Paul Conroy’s Last Photo Essay: Cuba’s Moment of Reckoning, Veteran war photographer and correspondent Paul Conroy died of natural causes a day after returning from Cuba with this report of another city under siege. He never stopped bearing witness open.substack.com/pub/bylineti...

After four months and thirty-seven chapters, each of them appearing a century to the day after the one it describes, Greeneland reachs its conclusion. Graham leaves Nottingham. The whole novel can now be read online (with an epilogue and bonus posts to come). davidbelbin.substack.com/p/thirty-seven

About to settle in to The Book of Jonah, by @lukekennard.bsky.social my appetite whetted by this rave review from Rupert Loydell, in Litter. www.littermagazine.org/2025/11/revi...

Where Are You Tonight is my favourite number on Street Legal, which it closes. Delighted when Dylan played it at Blackbushe (my second Dylan show: the first being the opening night at Earl's Court, just before Street Legal came out, both in 1978). Pretty sure it was the highlight of that gig for me.

Craig Finn & McCrary Sisters play Where Are You Tonight? from Street Legal in the encore section of the Bob Dylan Center's Blonde on Blonde at 60 celebration in Tulsa. This was posted on facebook at my request and I thought I'd share it here. @raypadgett.bsky.social www.facebook.com/reel/1991769...

The Unlimited Dream Company. Loved this 80 minute JG Ballard documentary, free to view. BJA Samuel uses numerous sources to create the best available intro to Jim's world. I owe JGB an enormous debt, for he accepted my first published short story, for Ambit, in 1989. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj0V...

Slava Ukraini! On the fourth anniversary of the invasion, here are The Ukranians opening their farewell tour at the Ukranian Cultural Centre in Sherwood last weekend. And remember there's a rally and march in Nottingham next Sunday. Meet Brian Clough statue in the Market Square, starting at 1.30PM.

The Secret Agent is a slow burn: always involving and ultimately absorbing. It's not afraid to be bizarre, serious, complicated or moving. Well worth venturing out on a rainy night to see. www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

Love guideline that 'you can review the work of someone you’ve had dinner or drinks with, but probably not someone who’s put you up at their place, especially for more than one night. Some incestuousness is inevitable... But you have to draw a line somewhere, or you’ll end up married to your cousin'

Classic Onion.

Today’s chapter of Greeneland is a few minutes late, but during the delay I did manage to locate a poster for the Ernst Lubitsch film Graham goes to, which I’ve never seen. Anyone know it? Sadly, the only version I can find is the 1930 remake. davidbelbin.substack.com/p/thirty-three

Waiting for Cecil Roberts. There are three short chapters from Greeneland this week, before the epic conclusion at the end of the month. Time to catch up before the epilogue in early March. davidbelbin.substack.com/p/thirty-one...

If you missed this the first time, do check out YP's time capsule now. The box set version of 1974 in the pop charts.

Just finished Julian Barnes's final novel, 'Departure(s)' - a beautiful edition for his autofictional farewell, which is sweetly judged, often profound and frequently moving. Suspect @fiveleavesbooks.bsky.social still have some signed copies.