Poetry review – AS IT MUST: Colin Pink considers an interesting new collection by Gale Burns which is sometimes emotionally restrained and yet surprisingly and strikingly graphic about politics and death
year 2026
THREE MELOS PRESS PAMPHLETS: Ian Pople reviews poetry by Michele Roberts, NS Thompson and Andrew McCulloch
* LONDON GRIP NEW POETRY #60 – SUMMER 2026 features poems by: *Diana Cant *Kim Waters *Prue King *John Whitehouse *Michael Mintrom *Stuart Pickford *Kathleen McPhilemy *Siobhan Ward * Elisabeth Sennitt Clough *David I Hughes *Sue Spiers *Tim Love *Andrew Barnes *Nasrin Parvaz *Paul Stephenson *Bruce Christianson *Joan Dance *Leo F Smyth *Fiona Clark *Barry […]
Connected Worlds of Bruges. Review by Barbara Lewis. As part of the constant flow of luminaries in and out of the cultural and commercial hub of 16th-century Bruges, Henry VIII sent Thomas More there in 1515 as part of a diplomatic mission to settle trade and financial disputes. His visit to Flanders was also when More began his classic work “Utopia”.
Quartet in Autumn. Review by Barbara Lewis. Lonely, unloved women are the protagonists of Barbara Pym’s novels. The brave honesty of her subject matter led some publishers to reject her, although the poet Philip Larkin was famously among her advocates.
Poetry review – SOMETHING LIKE GRACE: Jennifer Johnson follows Annie Forbes as she uses poetry to explore different understandings of grace
David Lightfoot (1941 – 2026) – teacher, poet, novelist & editor: some recollections by friend and colleague Rob Etty
The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz. Review by Alan Price. The film’s Spanish title Ensayo de un crimen translates as Rehearsal for a Crime and could be viewed as a “rehearsal for a life” which in the case of the life of Archibaldo de la Cruz’s hasn’t achieved very much.
Poetry review – FRAGMENTS OF AN AMERICA (VOLUME II): Charles Rammelkamp finds both warmth and urgency in these state-of-the-nation poems by Chris McNally
Poetry review – DARLING BLUE: Rennie Halstead explores the strands within a narrative sequence by Sarah James
No Ghosts. Review by Barbara Lewis. Something is so wrong with contemporary life that even the ghosts have stopped haunting it – and yet “No Ghosts” is not so much about the supernatural, or the lack of it, as about the intensely emotional nature of human friendship in early adulthood.
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”
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • authors, books, poetry, religion, year 2026 • Tags: Alwyn Marriage, books, poetry, religion