So he did come in the end:

From Didcot and Reading to Paris, where the Coolest Man ou No competition has been won by Gilles Ortlieb. André Chénier a close second.

Faint Mondrian vibe on the approach to Reading station

Long route from work via Osney and the gas works, lots of time to enjoy the springtime growth of pointless aggressive and passive-aggressive signage.

a few pictures from my ... ahem... 'run' yesterday: chilled heron, orders from Christ, and two skeletal leaves through which spring can finally be glimpsed.

I.M.

Hello Bluesky! I am looking for anyone who cares about/writes about/thinks about Rebecca West. I've been on a 10 year mission to get her a blue plaque in London and am finally allowed to re-apply after it was last turned down. I'd welcome help building a strong application. Thank you 💙🙏

Cormorant, geese and road cone. Osney tableau in hesitant sun. 5/3/26. I date spring from now.

We had a fantastic evening talking about Lynette Roberts and her amazing poetry. Woth thanks to the society and the ambassador. The Fererro Rocher are just out of sight.

Anither afternoon gone

Fantastic evening in Palas Print Caernarfon with Niall Griffiths and @benwildsmith.bsky.social for Ben's new book with @calonbooks.bsky.social

Dal yma heddiw, Morrisons dre. Still here today Morrisons Caernarfon.

Meanwhile, in Germany, the public weighs in on what they think of the Epstein Administration. #BrutalButAccurate

Been following this in the French press but this is a really fine and searching article for the UK reader. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

Pride of place in Morrisons Caernarfon charity book table: top trolling dre, da iawn.

Rosa road, Sheffield, Snake Pass. White peaks.

Osney island , Constable light on the old electricity station.

Small mercies: the first rainless day in what feels like months, followed by a sunset that involves a visible sun, visibly setting.

Congratulations to the winner of the Scott Moncrieff Prize for translations into English of full-length French works of literary merit and general interest: ruthdiver.bsky.social for a translation of The Convoy by Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse (openborderspress.bsky.social )

London 3 times in a week. Lights on, nobody much home at Centre Point. The future as imagined by the past.

There's always something to see.

The penmanship and control are extraordinary www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...

Delighted and extremely grateful for this kind review of Ghost Stations @cbeditions.bsky.social by Jonathan Keates in this month's @litreview.bsky.social . I'd like to stay on this train, thank you.

Another genius move by Labour. Shaft potential young Labour voters then pick a fight with Martin Lewis about it. www.theguardian.com/money/2026/f...

Delighted to see this woodpecker at the bird feeder this morning. When he's finished the fat ball hors d'oeuvre he can move onto the tree.

Remember them. Murdered by the forces of the British state in Derry on this date in 1972.

De l'importance des bistrots

Like snowdrops and the dawn chorus, the 1st signs of spring: the first pallet of Morrisons compost

Wonderful.

Anonymous briefer, you would not tell with such high zest To reporters ardent for some exclusive story, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro party leadership approval ratings on Ipsos MORI

Area around Oxford station feels transitional: businesses that don't 'take', planning that never settles, empty buildings, brisk footfall to or from historic centre. Through-place. So it's good to see these informative panels in the old (historic) Kings Motors building about St Thomas and St Ebbe's.

I've taught on this and attended some of the talks. It's a brilliant summer school: practical, creative, professional...

Will throw this into the pot for Donald if it means he just fucks off.

Watched @bbcnewsnight.bsky.social for the first time in a while. Tabloid TV , politics as soap opera, titillating rumour and totally content-free. This was once a great programme.

Great Guardian pieces about Weir (and the Grateful Dead) by Alexis Petridis and Stevie Chick. I'd add add Jack Straw and Black-throated Wind to this list. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

Some inverse relationship between how much History there is to learn from and how little is learned from History. Unless that's the point of it.

Very pleased to end 2025 with a nice review in @thetls.bsky.social of Ghost Stations , available from @cbeditions.bsky.social . Giving nostalgia a good name. www.the-tls.com/regular-feat...

Nadolig llawen, merry Christmas , Caernarfon

Festive florilegium of reviews of local Morrisons , tempered by the realisation that I know most if not all the people evoked in these comments. Da iawn dre, yma wyf innau i fod.

Y Foryd, some elemental views

Also in 2026, my cross-channel Modernisms book. Starts with Mallarmé and Yeats, finishes with Derek Mahon's translations , by way of TE Hulme, Lynette Roberts, TS Eliot and the NRf , Rosemary Tonks, Odilon Périer, the birth of avant-garde theatre and other things.

After foxes of Oxford, writers' cats of Paris. Here seen modelling Gilles Ortlieb's study.

Always feel privileged to see this fox outside my house , to spend that moment being looked at and looked into , before it turns and goes.

So glad these 2 bikes have finally met. Magdalen Rd.

Promising start

Watching this shape up, due out early next year, produced with my colleagues Clément Dessy and Stefano Evangelista. On literature, art and travel, on symbolism, decadence and globalisation, and on the movement of ideas and *people* across borders.

Happy Themes Water hosepipe ban lift-day to all 'customers' who celebrate.

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2025 is ‘And the Walls Became the World All Around’ by Johanna Ekström and Sigrid Rausing, translated from Swedish (Sweden) by Sigrid Rausing and published by @grantabooks.bsky.social !

A brilliant workshop on class in French literature at @stannescollege.bsky.social finished with an inspiring talk by Maurice East on Working Oxford. Made possible by the @britishacademy.bsky.social organised by @hollylangstaff.bsky.social and me. More projects and events planned...