What exactly is the essence of Belgium? Far harder to pin down than French chic or English sang-froid, the nation’s uneasy mix of Walloon and Flemish, surreal and down-to-earth, all miraculously held together, is perfectly encapsulated by the Atomium – a giant, futuristic structure on the northern edge of Brussels.
history
D A Prince admires the careful construction of John Greening‘s new collection To the War Poets and is pleased by the way it trusts the reader to look deeper into the subject-matter.
Chris Beckett is enthusiastic about poetry’s potential for exploring and explaining family history and cultural roots – and finds examples in recent collections by Nancy Mattson and Anne Ryland
How do we acknowledge the mess that Britain made in 1947 when the Indian subcontinent was carved into two countries? This is the central question underlying Howard Brenton’s caustic new play. Drawing The Line explores the moment when the line between India and Pakistan was made and British rule in India ended.
Now fully restored, with its chequered Flemish floors, semi-circular gallery and portico inspired by a Roman triumphal arch, the Rubenshuis, Ruben’s home in Antwerp, is one of the most popular attractions in a vibrant city, just under an hour’s train journey from Brussels.
Paul McLoughlin reviews a collection set in the 1930s which recreates a lost age that was both golden and flawed.
Norbert Hirschhorn reflects on a poetry and prose memoir that gives an inside view of the National Health Service at a time when it may be about to change forever. Born in the NHS by Wendy French & Jane Kirwan The Hippocrates Press (London, 2013) ISBN 978-0-957-9572571-2-2 pp 240 £12
Thomas Ovans browses a handsome poetic and photographic collaboration by William Oxley and Barry Davidson
Thomas Ovans uses the internet to solve mysteries round an air crash fifty years ago … and also uncovers some more recent concerns
Peter Giles re-tells a little-known story from the second world war…
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • history, poetry, psychology, Year 2014