Anthony Holden
Elegant Pensées
In conversation at a recent literary do with two eminent Oxbridge professors of Eng Lit, past and present, I felt moved for some reason to drop the name of Frank Kermode. ‘Ah,’ said one of the profs, ‘writing a memoir, I gather.’ ‘Really?’ mused the other. ‘A memoir?’ The word was held in the air between thumbnail and index finger, then dropped on the passing canapé tray like a used cocktail-stick.
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'She must pretend to be a walking companion, observe without being noticed and paint the subject from memory, in secret. It's a superb metaphor for the female artist, hidden from history.'
@nclarke14 ponders the resonance of 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire'.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/portraits-of-ladies
'And there in the evening the bride and the gamekeeper
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'It Says Here', from Sean O'Brien's upcoming collection.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/it-says-here
https://literaryreview.co.uk/here-there-everywhere-2
Everyone must have been queueing up to review the new Craig Brown Beatles book, which is obviously brilliant – but kudos to @Lit_Review and @DrDominicGreen for conspiring to bring us this bravura reviewing performance (free to read)