Even coming from the weird and wacked-out world of Tinseltown, the news that Sean Penn is to appear in a Hollywood biopic of Maxwell Perkins is somewhat startling. Perkins was a mild, courteous, self-effacing publisher’s editor. He was, admittedly, such a brilliant editor that he has been a touchstone of quality and seriousness for those… Continue reading Stand by for the new Hollywood hero – the publisher…
Read moreHere’s a song I wrote recently for the brilliant Victoria Hart, called ‘It’s Only Love That Gets Me’, receiving its world premiere last weekend. The recorded version can be heard on the Something Happened MySpace page.
Read moreThe dog was barking. It was an unusual bark – simultaneously excited and frustrated, different in timbre from her usual head-down-a-rabbit-hole bark, or her trying-to-climb-a-tree-after-a-squirrel bark, or her I’m-the-queen-of-the-castle guard-dog bark. I investigated. She was dancing like a demented show-pony around something she had found. Her prey was immobile, small and circular. It was a… Continue reading Of hedgehogs and attack dogs
Read moreWhen Norwich was said to be favourite in the race to be the UK’s first City of Culture, I wrote a blog which was not entirely supportive of my local city. “How the heart sinks. As the region’s mighty cohort of arts administrators and creativity facilitators prepare their power-point and pitches, sharpening up the requisite… Continue reading Forget Normal-for-Norfolk and Essex Girl – it’s time for East Anglian Man to be recognised
Read moreIn the jolly rough-and-tumble of column-writing, getting few hard kicks from readers is part of the game, but I am beginning to wonder whether something rather odd has been happening in the scrum since the election. My columns in the Independent often earn me bit of heckling – usually online, invariably anonymous – from readers.… Continue reading The new tribalism of the left
Read moreHere is my ‘Endpaper’ piece for the summer edition of The Author, the magazine published for professional writers by the Society of Authors. Is it just me, or has everything suddenly gone rather quiet? Authors are used to hearing that the trade is dead, that bookshops are spookily deserted (it usually happens the week one… Continue reading It’s time for an authors’ revolution
Read moreFrom the moment that Sebastian Horsley entered the church, his coffin draped in red glittering material like a large Christmas present, it was clear that this was going to be an unusual funeral. The sound of Marc Bolan’s Cosmic Dancer, sadder and more ghostly than it has ever been, echoed around the church. I danced… Continue reading Dancing himself into the tomb
Read moreLast Friday, my Independent column was about our great age of nannying – in politics, on TV, in life – and how it seemed to be drawing to a close. I opened the piece by drawing a comparison between Mary Portas, the BBC’s bossyboots shop expert, and Harriet Harman. One contributor to the Independent’s message-board… Continue reading A woman-hater writes…
Read moreInsanely, absurdly. Sebastian Horsley has been found dead, having apparently taken an overdose of heroin. Although he lived life on the edge – over the edge sometimes – he always seemed to be a survivor. Because he was never ever a cliché, I wish he had not died this way. His public persona, one… Continue reading Sebastian Horsley – a dear dandy
Read moreHere is a puzzle from the bird world – or, rather, from the world of bird enthusiasts, conservationists, popularisers and twichers. It is a tale of two very large birds of prey, the eagle owl and white-tailed sea eagle. Both are very occasionally found in these islands and both have the nasty, but understandable, habit… Continue reading Big birds, big trouble
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