Musings
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The Seafarer
The Seafarer is a poem from the Exeter Book, a 10th century codex of Old English which sprang from a project of monastic reform and restabilisation following a long period Viking attacks and the subsequent disrepair of Christian places and their spiritual practices. The poem is mostly secular with a religious addition, possibly added later, Continue reading
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The Ick according to Mumsnet
by anonymous contributors in this thread. The end bit on a tomato. The word ‘sip’. The word ‘entrepreneur.’ People starting a new paragraph for every sentence, like they’re writing a poem. Disney adults. The word ‘panties’. Hairdressers who handle your hair in a feeble way. Gen Z influencers who live alone and post reels about Continue reading
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2025: a tasty mast year
“Berries have come early to the rowans of Edinburgh this year. A few trees have already shed or partly-shed their leaves following August’s drought, making it easy to spot the blackbirds and thrushes bobbing up and down atop heavy bunches of bright red fruit.” This is a remark I made on a dormant Substack in Continue reading
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The joy of collecting: on tangible emotions
It started, as many things do, with a coin. That first coin wasn’t even currency; it was a coin-shaped token thanking me for my participation in a Terry Fox Run at age thirteen or so. I don’t remember where the others came from, but they trickled in, qian by penny by cent, and I stuck them round Continue reading
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The working class in the arts: where are they?
There is a known absence of people from working-class backgrounds in the creative arts. As of 2020, only 16% of the workforce in creative industries are from working-class backgrounds. The Working Class Creatives Database (WCCD) manifesto I recently joined the WCCD, which describes itself as “a platform to share and highlight the work of working Continue reading
Jane Alyson Clarke 