In Estonia, Arjun Sajip goes on the trail of the painter Konrad Mägi, a pioneer of Baltic modernism, ahead of an exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Join me and my favourite mythological women, in conversation with Bee Rowlatt on 'Myth Vs Reality'! All funds go to support The Wollstonecraft Society, inspiring young people to learn about Wollstonecraft's human rights legacy. Tickets here: www.wollstonecraftsociety.org/whats-on

'Poetry can be a very wide sea, an inexhaustible expanse. I am suddenly aware of the confines we are so used to: the narrow valley of the local' On 'Crow’s Eye View by Yi Sang, translated from Korean by Jack Jung' By @sashadugdale.bsky.social modernpoetryintranslation.com/from-the-arc...

Athens in Spring: Wisteria runs wild through the bitter orange; blackbirds singing their hearts out.

"In immigration detention, he missed 4 out of 5 chemotherapy sessions scheduled in his fight against aggressive lymphoma. A scan last month showed the cancer had spread into his bone marrow. “I was in shock, seeing those little dots,” he said of the scan...” www.startribune.com/how-ice-deta...

Harder and harder to float above the doom, but there is reading to do and Wednesday's lecture to prepare. (And, as always, the dreaded admin.) Coffee!

While it's still Annunciation in this part of the world, here's my favourite ekphrastic poem on any subject (which I posted once or twice back at the other place but not here apparently), "The Song Rehearsal" by @aestallings.bsky.social

'A Dance of Frogs', Flemish, unknown artist Mid-17th century. (Victoria & Albert Museum, London)

Greece will spend €307mn to lower household energy costs stemming from the Gulf war, and is pushing for an EU subsidy to save heavy industry, suspending climate concerns. open.substack.com/pub/johntpsa...

Since 1994, immigrants have paid more in taxes than they receive in benefits every year. Do not believe the lies you hear about immigrants. They are good for society and the economy.

Wittgenstein’s ‘critique of pure raisin’.

Lovely evening at the running track above marble stadium: runners, joggers, walkers, young woman reading a book on the wall with view of Parthenon, young man strumming guitar, grandpa with his two little grandsons picking wildflowers along the edges of the track.

Everything we need to do to stop climate breakdown, we also need to do for national security. Energy saving, more renewables, more electricity storage and interconnectors, electrification of transport, heating, cooking and industrial processes, plant-based diets. We win on all fronts.

Show somebody who absolutely rocks a hat and isn’t Indiana Jones.

You could say that Rock n Roll was born 111 years ago today in Arkansas, but probably not where you'd think. Before there was a Chuck Berry or Little Richard, there was those who wanted to be like her. Rosetta Nubin better known as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of Rock was born on this day

Having abandoned Ukraine, the US now seeks its help to protect its allies in the Gulf from Iranian retaliation. open.substack.com/pub/johntpsa...

Greece is now protecting three countries in addition to itself from Iranian retaliation and reaping the benefits of rearmament, but it is walking a tightrope among conflicting pressures. open.substack.com/pub/johntpsa...

OK, well there is doom galore, but have to make tracks on admin, reading for a book contest, and maybe some of own writing. Coffee!

Good morning, Mr and Mrs Mallard, chuckling magpies, blue afterblur of kingfisher, bashful primroses, host of daffodils, cheerful tulips, solitary fritillaries.

Good morning, solemn solo swimming swan, Mr and Mrs Mallard, ravishing ravens, bashful primroses, host of daffodils, solitary fritillaries.

Look at this handsome fellow I just ran into at Trinity, Cambridge. He is a Harris's hawk and his name is Fagan. His job is to shoo pigeons.

Good morning, swoopy seagull, greening willows with their fingers trailing in the river, blushing tulips, solitary fritillaries.

Margaret Atwood

"The Diameter of the Bom" www.poetry.com/poem/54281/t...

We did it! A stupendous night. That’s the last of the Radio Theatre recordings (but still 1 recording left…). Thanks to my terrific guests, Prof Michael Scott & @aestallings.bsky.social! Thanks to producer Beth, the mega BBC team (with legendary Lucy), and of course to the best audience in radio🏺🎤❤️

Good morning, plashy-footed moor hen, good morning Canada Gander and Goose, Mr and Mrs Mallard, shy primroses, host of daffodils, solitary fritillary.

Καλό Μήνα!

Orlando enters the Brontë discourse: "'I have found my mate,' she murmured. 'It is the moor. I am nature's bride,' she whispered, giving herself in rapture to the cold embraces of the grass as she lay folded in her claok in the hollow by the pool."

An old poem of mine for Clean Monday: fivepoints.gsu.edu/excerpt/clea...

Well, I have a LOT of thoughts about Gross Pointe Blank. Besides the amazing soundtrack. It is also an Odyssey? (Homecoming/Remarriage plot/killings). And a profound essay on ethics/America/empire? Μετάφραση ανάρτησης

Doing this next week in London:

Island flower report: anemonies, poppies (!), daisies, dandelions, primroses, asphodel, chamomile...

Remember that you are dust, and that to dust you shall return.

Wow.

OK, will turn in article edits today, and then admin and translation. Coffee!

Strong Southern winds (always a bad wind in the Aegean) brining clouds of Sahara dust to town. Not a great day to be out and about in Athens.

Strong Southern winds (always a bad wind in the Aegean) brining clouds of Sahara dust to town. Not a great day to be out and about in Athens.

Happy Aroma of Smoky Meat Thursday!

When I got the contract to write a history of concentration camps in 2014, I hoped to keep the US from ending up here. That didn't work out! But now it's critical to understand how much is already in process and the enormity of what's coming. The sooner we act to stop it, the more people we'll save.

11 Feb, the feast of St Gobnait of Baile Bhuirne #Cork 6th century #abbess associated with bees, who obeyed her. (Bodleian)

11 Feb: feast #otd of St Gobnait of Baile Bhuirne #Cork #abbess from the 6th century who is associated with bees. In 1601 Clement VIII gave a plenary indulgence to those visiting her site (John Saaats)

The Nation calls FRIEZE FRAME by A. E. Stallings "a brilliant riot of characters, personalities, and voices that jostle together across continents and centuries." @aestallings.bsky.social @thenation.com @consortiumbooks.bsky.social www.thenation.com/article/cult...

Langston Hughes

More galleys coming in today (am always surprised to have written something--somehow it feels I never am, and then proofs come in?), plus work on article, translation. Coffee!

From poet Jane Clark Scharl: www.plough.com/en/topics/li...

Καλό Μήνα!

"I require a tug"

Sad news today. XJ "Joe" Kennedy—a giant of poetry and great friend to Light—has died at 96. We’ll share more about him and his work soon. For now, here’s one of our favorites of his: #XJKennedy @aestallings.bsky.social @colemanglenn.bsky.social @juliekanepoet.bsky.social @allisonpoet.bsky.social

X.J. Kennedy, RIP

The wonderful poet X.J. Kennedy has died. Here is his perfect "Little Elegy": www.poemtree.com/poems/Little...