Didn't know that - thank you. What a connection. The Bowie version is great - especially the line 'he took his heart to every party'.

I also found Force of Circumstance, the first book which he disavowed, thrilling to read, graceful and super-intelligent.

yes, and so hard to do! (and to know that's what you should do...)

meant to add: the Paris Review interview here: this really is how he spoke. His sentences were perfect, complete, multi-clausal affairs with brackets and dashes you could hear and follow, and footnotes that seemed inserted in a parallel time, and all of it completely lucid, clear and followable.

J. H. Prynne, The Art of Poetry No. 101 “Writers had better not be too cocksure that they’ve got inspiration on their side.”

Very sorry to hear of JH Prynne's death.I was sent to him for my u/g dissertation on Wm Cowper, 1990. He was brilliant, warm and kind, & talked about poetry as if he was there, somewhere along the chain of its making, speaking from inside as well as outside it. www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6...

Jeremy Prynne, prankster poet The famously obscure poetry of JH Prynne glitters with aphorisms and jokes

Very sorry to hear that the poet J.H. Prynne has died, at the age of 89. Here, from 10 years ago, is my attempt to describe the man and the work

Claude François "Comme d'habitude" | INA

A propos Trump's use of My Way... the original song is French: Comme d'habitude. Sung by Claude François, written by him, Jacques Revaux & Gilles Thibaut, it's a charming self-deprecating and witty song, far from the puffy boomer anthem My Way, now a dictator dotage-dirge. www.ina.fr/ina-eclaire-...

Yes surprisingly nobody has been back to claim him...

Very taken with Bristol Temple Meads Lost Property office. All these characters angry getting ready to go find their owners.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MAGYAR.

At the risk of introducing some bathos , here's the poem i published in the tls around the 40th anniversary of his death. In my 2nd book, Jilted City.

Jacques Brel, born today in 1929. Here in my home town of Bouillon, quite the young bruxellois on a day out to the provinces. My mother and aunt saw him in concert.

Heard one episode in the car and enjoyed it! Loved hearing the voice of the boy (now man) who was there when they demolished the walls in his birthday

Staff in the Oxford branch of Lush have had to deal with some harassment from the so-called Oxfordshire Patriots recently. So I dropped by today to offer some moral and financial support, and picked up the excellent @migrantsrights.bsky.social leaflet.

Thames Valley Police have now confirmed that they have arrested a 44-year-old man from Bromsgrove on suspicion of causing racially and religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress, in connection with reports of incidents on Abingdon Road. He has been released on police bail.

Far right thugs getting called out and shown up, and for several of them it's far from their first arrest.

So he did come in the end:

Always been happy with bronze 🥉

From Didcot and Reading to Paris, where the Coolest Man ou No competition has been won by Gilles Ortlieb. André Chénier a close second.

Faint Mondrian vibe on the approach to Reading station

Long route from work via Osney and the gas works, lots of time to enjoy the springtime growth of pointless aggressive and passive-aggressive signage.

a few pictures from my ... ahem... 'run' yesterday: chilled heron, orders from Christ, and two skeletal leaves through which spring can finally be glimpsed.

I.M.

Hello Bluesky! I am looking for anyone who cares about/writes about/thinks about Rebecca West.

I've been on a 10 year mission to get her a blue plaque in London and am finally allowed to re-apply after it was last turned down.

I'd welcome help building a strong application.

Thank you 💙🙏

Cormorant, geese and road cone. Osney tableau in hesitant sun. 5/3/26. I date spring from now.

Looks like a perfect example of the dish

We had a fantastic evening talking about Lynette Roberts and her amazing poetry. Woth thanks to the society and the ambassador. The Fererro Rocher are just out of sight.

Yes, hard to stop once started

Its addictive