Ian Jack on tense and cherries

I have just had porridge for breakfast. I mixed it with a banana (Dominican Republic), a Clementine (Spain), some organic raisins (Kenya) and some almonds (also Spain). I sprinkled on some linseed (Canada) and some cinnamon (unspecified within the EU). I have no way of knowing where the oats came from, but as the bag [...]

Ian Jack on the unsteady British

A twitterishly short post as I wait for A to arrive by train in Oxford. I’ve read through half of Ian Jack’s collection of writings The Country Formerly Known as Great Britain and — at this point — the words of the unsteady, the unstable, the unhinged — are peeking out at me from the [...]

In writing, don’t chase your themes

I’m off to see Peter Brook’s 11 and 12 in April at Northern Stage. On Radio 4 a few weeks ago, a fellow guest on Start the Week challenged Peter (and Lucy Prebble, the playwright behind the story of Enron) on how a writer could not be aware of the themes of her/his writing. Surely, [...]