WIVES AND WOMEN: Dale Scherfling reflects on Ernest Hemingway’s life through the women who helped shape it — seeing them not as supporting characters, but as individuals
authors
Poetry review – NEW AND SELECTED POEMS: Ian Pople considers a new selection of poems by Henri Coulette (1927-1988)
A DISLOCATION OF MIND: Alwyn Marriage examines David Banning’s self-declared “attempts to engage with the many contradictions swirling around in the mind of RS Thomas”
David Lightfoot (1941 – 2026) – teacher, poet, novelist & editor: some recollections by friend and colleague Rob Etty
PATERSON Alwyn Marriage considers a re-issue of the monumental and unfinished epic by William Carlos Williams
Lady Susan. Review by Barbara Lewis. “Lady Susan” is either the culmination of Jane Austen’s youthful experiments with epistolary novels and the narration of society scandals or the beginning of her mature phase of subtle characterisation and the establishment of her distinctive voice, depending on your viewpoint.
Poetry review – RETURN TO SENDAI Nick Cooke takes an in-depth look at a major compilation of work by Peter Robinson
THE LITERARY BUSINESS Paul McDonald enjoys Peter Finch’s lively and insightful account of more than half a century experiencing the vagaries of life as a writer and literary administrator
Poetry review – SONG OF THE YELLOW ASTERS Charles Rammelkamp reviews a moving and important posthumous collection by Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, translated from the German by Carlie Hoffman
Poetry review – NOT MY BEST SIDE: John Forth admires this new selection of U A Fanthorpe’s poetry for its laconic and compassionate voice and its comic precision
THINGS BEING VARIOUS: John Lucas discusses two very different works by Neil Curry – a monograph on Horace Walpole and a slim volume of delicate and well-observed poetry
Poetry review – A DAY LIKE NO OTHER: Thomas Ovans considers a new and generous selection from James Norcliffe’s many collections
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • added recently on London Grip, authors, books, poetry reviews, year 2026 • Tags: authors, books, poetry, Thomas Ovans