AFRICA
Q Marks the Spot 183 (January 2024 Treasure Map)
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hoping that 2024 is a cracker! Sacred Treasure Paul Kingsnorth: Our Godless Era Is Dead Paul Windsor has written up our LP
1st January 2024
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heaven
My Ko-fi button
Will you support my work? You can simply BUY me a COFFEE!
18th Century
Echoes from Eternity 6. William Cowper
Q regulars will know that William Cowper has been a personal favourite for years. He had to navigate the storms of mental illness throughout his
23rd March 2020
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beauty
A song of lament, a need for songs
Q regulars know that Turkey is a country close to my heart. I have just returned from my 15th (!) trip and so naturally it
2nd February 2019
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ARTS
On the short stories of Cemeteries
Moving to a new town means having to discover convenient new dog-walking areas. There’s a great little park near us – but there’s a limit
16th November 2017
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ARTS
Revisiting U2’s No Line on the Horizon
This post is not exactly in the heat of the moment. But because the site for which I wrote the article is no longer in
6th August 2017
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20th Century
Q Combinations 5: Kamienska & Wyeth and a winter hope
If the last Q combo was a chronological mismatch of artist and poet, this one is seasonal. Today’s still been pretty warm for a British September
10th September 2015
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20th Century
Q Combinations 3: Thomas, Spencer and the Tangible Kingdom
So here’s the 3rd Q Combination. I don’t know how well known these two geniuses are beyond British shores – but they are true 20th Century
16th August 2015
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19th Century
A model of devout resignation
I was in Cambridge for a few days speaking for some events that took place far too late at night for me (carol services at
12th December 2013
2 Comments
AFRICA
What to say when they burn down your house and church
I came across this remarkable, inspiring story at the end of David Smith’s excellent The Kindness of God, a plea for a new missiology appropriate
21st October 2013
1 Comment
atheism
The humiliation of incarnation… Iain Banks somehow, surprisingly, gets it… sort of
Iain Banks (known as Iain M Banks when he’s writing science fiction) had the most extraordinarily fertile imagination. It was one of the reasons his
30th September 2013
5 Comments
ARTS
Francis Spufford on Childhood books 4: Why Narnia matters
For me, though, the standout of Francis Spufford’s reading memoir The Child That Books Built is the chapter entitled The Island. For it is here that he
15th January 2013
3 Comments
Beethoven
The malice of time and the flowers of the field…
I’ve been spending quite a bit of time recently with a dear friend, Malcolm, who is dying of cancer. In fact, he has already lasted
28th November 2012
1 Comment