Poetry review – THE MAYDAY DIARIES: D A Prince admires Robin Houghton’s wide-ranging collection which succeeds in mixing the personal with the political
year 2025
The Très Riches Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry. Review by Barbara Lewis. The dazzling Gothic beauty of these miniatures and calendars foreshadowed the work of Jan van Eyck and other outstanding 15th-century Flemish painters.
Poetry review – HALFWAY TO BARKING: Jennifer Johnson enjoys a light-hearted and fanciful collection by Sarah Lawson
Poetry reviews – STILL LIFE and SUBCUTANEOUS: Emma Storr reviews prizewinning chapbooks by Rebecca Bilkau and Maria Isakova-Bennett
Hiroshige, artist of the open road. Review by Barbara Lewis. Japanese artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) lived as Japan shifted from the isolationism that characterised the shogun-dominated Edo period towards opening up to the world.
Poetry review – THE YELLOW KITE: Jennifer Johnson admires Vicki Feaver’s skilful use of poetry to explore the experience of living with life-changing illness
Fiddler on the Roof. Review by Julia Pascal. In Fiddler on the Roof, inspired by Sholem Aleichem’s 1894 Yiddish short story, and now a celebrated revival from the 1960s, we have to explore what this means today.
Storehouse. Review by Barbara Lewis. As the former CEO of the national independent TV and radio stations in Georgia, Liana Patarkatsishvili has strong views on freedom of expression and on attempts to stifle the truth.
Poetry review – THE ICONOSTASIS OF ANXIETY: Pam Thompson engages with a dense and complex short collection by W N Herbert
Poetry review – SUB/URBAN LEGENDS: Sarah Leavesley reviews a collection by Pam Thompson which seeks to open the reader’s eyes to the everyday legends all around us
Giffords Circus – Laguna Bay. Review by Barbara Lewis. Imagine a time when childhoods were free from mobile phones, video games and Instagram, and when the arrival of an exotic circus troupe on a village green or at the seaside represented magic and excitement far beyond the everyday.
Kiefer – Van Gogh. Review by Graham Buchan. If you see here echoes of Van Gogh’s last acknowledged, doom-laden masterpiece Wheatfield with Crows (1890), then you will likely find this exhibition at the Royal Academy highly satisfying.
By Graham Buchan • art, exhibitions, painting, year 2025 • Tags: art, exhibitions, Graham Buchan, painting