Two seemingly contradictory facts about Coming On The Scene by Johnny & The Attractions: 1. Everyone I know who's heard it absolutely loves it & original copies go for up to £850; 2. Almost nothing has ever been written about it. I've been thinking about why that is. www.patreon.com/posts/it-cou...

did the sitwells sit well? an investigation

A dream trip on any UK waterway you say? Well... 50 years ago almost to the day, I was with my parents on an autumn half term holiday trip along the Grand Union towards Leicester when I came across a bridge that someone had painted BALLS TO ENOCH POWELL on. I still dream about this moment. -

Have no idea who put this pristine copy of 11 late-career Frank O’Hara poems—copyrighted by the estate and compiled by Ted Berrigan in 1974—in a little free library box on Cooper Square. But, I think I’m going to hold onto this one…

Define your musical taste in eight artists: Incredible String Band Beatles Arthur Russell Judee Sill Shangri Las The Equals The Velvet Underground 13th Floor Elevators

"Do you still get paid in Roubles Ted?" 🐢💨

Arson attack at Sussex mosque.

It's getting harder and harder to deny that AGI is a near certainty. This kind of rapid expansion, this level of investment and infrastructural shift, this amount of *risk* - it doesn't happen without astronomical reward. The other day I saw a big barn, which can only mean one thing: giant horses

We at the Review mourn the loss of Alice Notley (1945-2025). In celebration of her life and work, we’ve unlocked her Art of Poetry interview, along with her poems, from our archive. buff.ly/qiSx3j8

Over 500 Unison members have signed a letter showing their dissatisfaction with Unison leadership over their initial statement following the Supreme Court Ruling You can also sign it here if you are a Unison member docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

reminder for UK people protesting today - do not accept a sign from the Socialist Worker's Party and certainly don't wave one around unless you remove their branding first (search for "Comrade Delta" for reasons why) 🩷

IS ON HIS WAY

I wrote about trying to keep up with the quick poetry of Tom Raworth someflowerssoon.substack.com/p/i-have-tas...

Critical thinking about AI images - really useful stuff if you’re struggling to think and talk about the what this repellent slop actually is.

day 12 in the basement of "big pink". dylan and the band are continuing to rehearse "you ain't going nowhere". on take 4 or 5, they pause for a breather, and rick danko announces he's going to big sainsbury's. does anybody want anything

Cicero he ain’t

Even now I can't get over the disaste I feel when a few lines of software calls me by name.

3 “pieces” of gin???? In the morning???? He didn’t give his day a chance!!!

Sometimes working with manuscripts gets us really, really close to the people from the past allowing us to hear their voices. This is a story of a letter from a schoolgirl to her teacher, written probably sometime at the end of the 9th or the beginning of the 10th century. A thread 🧵 #medievalsky /1

imagine a country so furious about drag performers that it voted for polio

my mate who used to work in dominic raab's office had a mate who used to work in kemi badenoch's office who reports that what is being said about her eating steak at her desk every day for lunch is completely true. what is being missed out is that she would sear it in the office laminator

Getting drunk, shouting at people Leaving the gate, encountering a creditor When goods are cheap, being too poor to buy them In high summer, happening upon an obnoxious guest - Li Shangyin

I mostly don’t really like Xmas that much, or at least I don’t enjoy its expensive awful obligations. But I do like this bit - is it there or isn’t it. Somedays I hear sleigh bells, sometimes it’s just the squeal and yawp of railway tracks on a rainy bend. Today a bit of both, are you listenin

X: I am the bloody hammer of the libs and elon wants me for an orc Bluesky: Another snugglesome day here at the goblin library

A thoughtful, committed, at-times critical (sob) and deeply informed review of "Love, Joe" by @dfelsenthal.bsky.social. And it's in The Baffler!

Last spring, I published a giant five-part series looking back on the entire Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. Well, whaddya know—it turned out the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour wasn't over yet! So I've updated the whole series to incorporate the final leg in Europe this fall. 🧵…

Writing is not easy. In mid 10th century Florentius, a scribe, had some really good thoughts about it: "Those who know nothing of writing do not appreciate this work very much. You want to know how hard it is? Your sight grows dim, you hunch, your ribs and belly break 1/ 🧵

Also here for painting. I’m looking forward to a day next week checking out the Paul Housley show in Soho, and also really looking forward to a proper look at Marilyn Hallam in Mayfair. Here’s an interesting Substack from Blackbird Rook about her: open.substack.com/pub/blackbir...

Hello everyone. I’m here for poetry, records and food. Hoping to catch whatever the next ‘30 to 50 feral hogs’ day is, which I still think, despite the disgusting bin fire it became, was a wonderful day for us all in the old place. Here’s my book, you can buy it from Veer. veer2.org/Alan-Hay-The...