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.
books
Poetry review – SOMETHING LIKE GRACE: Jennifer Johnson follows Annie Forbes as she uses poetry to explore different understandings of grace
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.
Poetry review – FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT: Thomas Ovans admires Alwyn Marriage’s sequence of ekphrastic poems based on Christian artworks
DON’T FORGET WE’RE HERE FOREVER: Michael Bartholomew-Biggs admires Lamorna Ash’s honest account of a spiritual exploration.
A GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR POETRY PUBLISHED: Thomas Ovans reviews a comprehensive instruction manual for new poets by Robin Houghton and notes that it can also be a useful refresher course for old hands
Poetry review – LOOSESTRIFE FOR PORCUPINES: Charles Rammelkamp admires a well-observed new collection by D. M. Gordon
Poetry review – DIS(ILLUSION): Ian Pople explores the complexities of Mario Martín Gijón’s distinctive poetic style
Poetry review – THE LAST CORINTHIANS: Emma Storr is glad to find that Matthew Paul’s poems of personal reminiscence are welcoming and inclusive for the general reader
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”.
By Barbara Lewis • art, art archive, books, exhibitions, history, year 2026 • Tags: art, art archive, Barbara Lewis, books, exhibitions, history