Literature
AI is a terrible poet
It has no sense for true meaning and beauty in language
Chill message of Booker shortlist
The contempt of publishers for middle-class life and values is diminishing the novel
Tense present
Our demand for immediacy makes it difficult to appreciate the past, the present or the future
Cities of the mind
19th century English towns live on in our collective imagination
The kindest of ghosts
A new history of childhood reading is a treasure
The dark horse of Durban
The work of Roy Campbell does not deserve to be ignored
In the beginning: neither fish nor fowl
Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson
Don’t judge a play by its label
The instinct towards appeasing “sensitivity” would stifle the creative impulse
Gregory Snaith: Little Magazine Editor
Only Gregory seemed prepared to upset the applecart
Jane Austen versus virtue signalling
What Mansfield Park can tell us about contemporary politics
Ireland must accept the Cass Review
The Republic is ignoring the disturbing evidence about youth transition
Are all Christians monks?
George Guiver’s book exudes down-to-earthiness, bordering on irreverence
Going solo
This Christmas, 40 competitors will face the most difficult sporting challenge on the planet
Minimum pricing, maximum annoyance
No one wins when the minimum price for alcohol rises
This is England, nor are we out of it
Englishness isn’t an ethnicity, or even an idea. It’s more like auto-destructive art
Nigel’s knees-up
Can Reform become a serious contender for power?
The enemy of the Civil Service is my friend
Conservatives should hope that Keir Starmer can weaken its grip on British policy
Keir’s comms catastrophe
Labour’s goal is clear but its messaging is anything but
Look on our works, ye voters, and despair
Nothing beside remains except the colossal wreck of the Tory Party
Imaginary friends
The idea of a synthetic companion that knows everything about you goes well beyond friendship
What do Labour think a conversion therapy is?
There has to be a middle ground between complete denial and complete affirmation
