Poetry review – A GRAIN OF TRUTH : Colin Carberry admires Celia de Freine’s bilingual collection exploring the plight of the disadvantaged and marginalised
year 2026
Poetry review – NO MORE ANIMAL POEMS: Oz Hardwick relishes the ambiguity – both playful and ominous – in this imaginative collection by Marc Vincenz
Poetry review – THE LAST ONE PICKED: D A Prince recognizes how far Stuart Handysides has developed his craft and experience before producing a first collection
A Sunday of Sondheim. Review by Barbara Lewis. Max Eade, nominally the director, who tells us he is really just the organiser, says he wanted this small-scale performance in the intimate space of the Union Theatre to be imperfect; a matter of “scribbles on a page”.
A Red that Sings. Review by Barbara Lewis. “The red that sings” is a phrase rooted in the intellectual atmosphere of the 19th-century when scientists first grappled with the concept of synaesthesia, and poets and painters seized on it as a heightened response to the anxiety and excitement of breathless social change.
Poetry review – CONVERSATIONS WITH A MACHINE : Michael Bartholomew-Biggs reviews a slim collection by Ruth Irwin that seeks to engage with big questions
Van Dyck, The European. Review by Barbara Lewis. A lack of evidence means art historians can only speculate about the relationship between Peter Paul Rubens and his most gifted pupil Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641).
Poetry review — CONVERSATIONS WITH MAGIC STONES: Sue Wallace-Shaddad admires how the techniques of writing and sculpture are related in Vivienne Tregenza’s collection inspired by the life & work of Barbara Hepworth
SEVEN STORIES: Emma Storr enjoys a selection of tales by Merryn Williams which touch on the darker side of human nature
Poetry review – BEYOND THE NINTH WAVE and RED DRESS: Simon Jenner reviews recent collections by Gordon Meade and David Cameron
Extreme Private Eros. Review by Alan Price. The opening scenes of Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 shows Miyuki with her female lover Sugako who cannot verbally express her feelings about their relationship. They live in a small town near a US military base in Okinawa and both work in a bar frequented by black American GIs.
Red Beard. Review by Alan Price, Over many years I have watched Red Beard three times and each time I felt elated and drained by its power. Yet since 1965, two annoying descriptions are hung round its neck: “soap opera” is pitted, as if to ward off sentimentality, with “humanist.” Both terms can be used to damn a work of art.
By Alan Price • film, year 2026 • Tags: Alan Price, film