I’m familiar with Annest Gwilym’s poetry because she sometimes posts on ABCtales. I have not the patience or understanding to fully appreciate poetry in general or her thirty-three poems in particular. ‘The Word Collector’ is akin to the green space where Dylan Thomas roamed ‘happy as the grass was green’. Words are her natural home. Seasons in the sun is a way of looking at the world. To capture time and squeeze verse between the bookends of...

After much enjoyable reading the Picks for this week come from two ABC stalwarts who have both been at their very best. Story of the Week is celticman's 'Love Story 2'. It has all the hallmarks of a celticman story - brilliant characterisation, sharp humour and the ability to rip your heart out. As you may have guessed, there is first part, and I would strongly urge you to read that too, if you haven't yet, although the second part can be read...

I’d not heard of David Sedaris. After reading this book, I know there’s been a film-version of his early life. I’ve not seen it. I understand he’s a humourist (perhaps I should use the American spelling, humorist). He’s meant to be funny. Book sales are heavily influenced by the book cover. The book cover here is nothing to look at. I notice these things more than your average non-humourist because I’ve skin in the great game. This screams non-...

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/resistance-2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resistance_(2020_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Marceau Jonathan Jakubowicz’s hagiography of Marcel Marceau (Jesse Eisenberg) begins in pre-war Nazi German of 1938. Elsbeth (Bella Ramsey) watches her dad and mum being arrested, beaten and shot. Their crime was being Jewish. It ends post-war in Nuremberg. General Patton (Ed Harris) asks ‘what is courage...

Don Paterson is around the same age as me. But he’s won a stack of poetry and literary awards and is Professor of Poetry at St Andrew’s University. That’s the university that usually comes out near the top for all the English nobs that can’t get into Oxbridge and even a few that can. Don Paterson, like me, grew up in a council estate in Dundee. Dundee is on par with drug deaths with Glasgow, which every year wins the award for dying. That’s how...

My historical novel, The Castle , from which extracts were posted on AbcTales last year, is now available on Amazon in digital, paperback and hardback editions. Overview of book: Cornwall, 1646; England is in a state of civil war. In the town of Falmouth, the population awaits the arrival of General Fairfax’s Parliamentary army which is sweeping through the south west. Only Pendennis Castle remains under Royalist control, its garrison refusing...

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/rhino/on-demand/74813-001 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhino_(film) Right-wing followers of the moron’s moron and former President Trump are trying to indict President Joe Biden ( https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/28/biden-impeachment-inquiry-what-to-know ) because of his son, Hunter’s, links with Ukrainian energy company Burisma. Corruption was and remains at a high levels in Ukraine. Standard...

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/minari/on-demand/73507-001 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minari_(film) Minari is a type of planet used in cooking South Korean dishes that grows like a weed. Monica’s mother Soon-ja (Youn Yuh-jung) travels from South Korea to help look after her grandchildren. She plants minari seeds in the creek bed where it grows abundantly. There’s a metaphor there. As Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun/ Yeun Sang-yeop) explains his...

Hope everybody has had a good week! Story of the Week is another funny, charming and insightful tale from Hudson Moon. We all get The Bothers, and Hudson offers a solution which is guaranteed to work. Until it doesn't. A delightful read for your weekend: The Bothers | ABCtales Poem of the Week is Dynamaso's 'Scratched'. It's beautifully written, slightly unnerving, and will stay with you long after reading: Scratched | ABCtales This week's...

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/night-of-the-kings?.none.none.popular|| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Kings Most prison movies tend to be about escape, or redemption, or both and act as morality plays. Stephen King’s short story turned into a longer film, The Shawshank Redemption , is familiar to most of us. Night of the Kings has a fairy tale feel to it which lifts it out of the ordinary. The plot is simple. Roman (Koné Bakary...