9th November 2024
Foraging For First Ladies
There is a quality to the sky’s colour in this historical stretch of American coast.…
17th October 2024
Payne
I had just read some other news from Argentina. A dozy commuter, walking while scrolling,…
8th September 2024
Magnificat
The museum did not open until 3pm, and so I people-watched for a while. A…
15th July 2024
The Crux
The news reports were frustrating. Their headlines, usually drunk on drama, lacked precision and meaning. …
25th March 2024
Salomé
I have dreamt of you, veiled Salomé. Your breath is on my skin - sweet…
5th March 2024
Berlin’s David Hasselhoff Museum
I am a neighbourhood man. I once visited Tokyo for 48 hours and did nothing…
12th February 2024
Saltburnt
That the writer-director of Saltburn understands the machinations of the British aristocracy is clear from…
18th January 2024
Flamenco In Valencia
He was a young man, in his mid-twenties, with curling black hair about his shoulders,…
29th October 2023
Stand-Up For Gen-Z
We know when we witness something fresh. Human beings are built to notice the novel.…
14th October 2023
Honey, Darling?
Londen. Londyn. Londres. Londinium. There are many Londons. I guess an invitation of travel is…
31st August 2023
Bocuse
He would be 98 years old if he were alive today. And if passion alone…
26th August 2023
Tick Tok
The church tower in Lake Issarlès, high in the Ardèche mountains of southern France, rings…
24th August 2023
Come To The Quiet
Everything interesting is difficult. Let me translate this thought to Latin, to lend it more…
22nd August 2023
Fire
So that a donkey may drink, I spent the afternoon in the pursuit of phantom…
19th August 2023
La France Profonde
I am sitting on the banks of the Allier river, which marks the border between…
15th August 2023
The Clank Of Pétanque
In travel, any pace is the perfect pace. Each choice of transport brings its own…
28th July 2023
Scarlet Sinéad
The most striking image I recall of Sinéad O’Connor, the moment she became indelible, was…
18th July 2023
Jane, Je T’Aime
The pop-culture scene in France, when I lived there in the early 90s, was more…
26th May 2023
The Tune That Spike Liked
“I’m a jobbing clown”. Spike Milligan’s self-described persona jumps to life in his conversation, riffing…
6th May 2023
The Strains Of Zadok
This is the story of a piece of music, and its place in the anointing…
16th September 2022
The Elizabeth Line
DIARY ENTRY #1 London’s newest underground railway line has been in the planning since the…
30th March 2022
Slap And Tickle
It was not, in the pantheon of American humour, the greatest of jokes. But, as…
11th September 2021
The Grey Snow of 9/11
Early on a June morning in 1986 I entered the lobby of the World Trade…
6th August 2021
Laying Low In Cavan
“It’s lashin”, she said, when I arrived down to breakfast. And as her patrons filtered…
24th October 2020
After The War
I watched a brief interview with Doris Lessing, the British author who learnt she had…
15th August 2020
A Man And His Grass
I worked with a talented, experienced landscape gardener named Lisa, some years ago. We were…
25th May 2020
Casting Connell
Look at the actor Paul Mescal from a distance, and he’s like any fella walking…
4th May 2020
Oh, Framing!
China speaks of absolutes Sweden speaks of calm Germany speaks of common sense Holland speaks…
11th April 2020
Before The Fall
It was a halcyon time. That time when woman, wrought from the rib of man,…
6th April 2020
Crown And Corona
She did not mention it once. Looking straight to camera, back upright with the gait…
12th March 2020
The Corona Chronicles
Each of us is a citizen, bound in a unique moment of jeopardy. The earthquake…
5th March 2020
Bridge Over Troubled Innovation
It is fifty years since Paul Simon released his songwriting masterpiece, 'Bridge Over Troubled Water',…
9th February 2020
Shoah: under the watchtowers of Auschwitz
The German words encountered in the world’s most notorious concentration camp are predominantly those of command…
6th February 2020
On The Road To Auschwitz
Because it cost them everything, it will cost me nothing. 1.1 million people were murdered…
17th January 2020
Look Sharp. See 1917.
Urgency. There is no time to spare. If an order is not delivered there will…
15th January 2020
Megxit, Pursued By A Bear
We are living a singular regal moment. The British sovereign, aged 93, has successfully put…
5th January 2020
My Dream Of Marian
It was my mother who got the news to me. Ear eternally to the radio,…
1st December 2019
Dissecting Mister Fawlty
Works of genius do not happen by accident. Genius must work hard in the creation…
14th October 2019
Marathon Man
The story of the first marathon is one of myth, weaving historical fact and human…
1st October 2019
Jessye In Paris
I am sitting at an Illy Café in the centre of Paris, some metres off…
30th April 2019
Malta’s Fault-lines Of Love
It is 10am, and I am sitting on the balcony of Crust in St Julian’s…
30th March 2019
Her’s & Ours
I am possessive about grammar, like a dog with a bone. And like most dogs…
24th January 2019
The Role Of Camp In Culture
When I was otherwise engaged gestating, Susan Sontag published an essay entitled ‘Notes On Camp’. …
13th January 2019
Life Is Simply Magnificent
We are each of us in search of transcendent experiences. This desire is at the…
30th September 2018
Jane Austen: dead or alive
I sat for an hour beside the grave of Jane Austen. The problem with people…
29th September 2018
Jane Austen Has Invited Me To Tea
If you want a sense of how large the Muslim world is, and how committed…
9th June 2018
All We Are Saying Is Give Asexuals A Chance
Almost ten years ago I began a post-grad in psychology - spending two years learning full…
10th February 2018
West Cork To The World
It is a long, meandering tale of tragedy. Across 6.5 hours and 13 episodes, the…
9th January 2018
Going Bollywood
On explaining my dance plans to a friend a few months back, he encouraged me…
5th January 2018
What It Means To Be Indian
I take it all back. Indians drive like maniacs. They overtake on a whim with…
16th October 2017
Ophelia Bears Down On Harvey
Her death, one of the most celebrated in literature, happens off-stage. Ophelia, driven mad by…
19th April 2017
Toffoli, And The Meaning Of Local
Toffoli is a restaurant on my street. It is perhaps 15 metres from my door.…