Carmen Nozal (Spain, 1964) is a Spanish-Mexican poet whose life and work bridge the Atlantic. A graduate in Hispanic Language and Literature from UNAM and a former student at the SOGEM Writers’ School, she has lived in Mexico since 1986. Her distinguished career includes the publication of twenty books of poetry, work for the theatre…

The Father Jan Twardowski Monument in Warsaw, Poland. Photograph Mateusz Opasiński Here is a small selection from three Polish poets, as promised. Two are presented in a historical context: early poems by Miłosz that resonate to the conflagration of war. The first is the last of twenty poems in the ‘World’ cycle, which needs to be seen…

David Yip at the Queens Head with one of the locals. Photo credit, David Yip by David Yip In 2017, after leaving my previous employer, I was once again looking for work. Having no savings, my younger sister paid for everything until I could find a job. At home, I kept up my house…

Raghu Rai with Sudeep Sen March 5th 2024. Photographs Sudeep Sen I was privileged to know Raghu Rai. He was a very kind, generous and spiritual human being. In his memory, here is an ekphrastic poem I wrote in 2013 responding to one of haunting signature photographs. The poem was published in my book, Fractals: New…

She sat in the sand of the Sinai desert, her back against the cool stone wall of the Al Huda Mosque. Photograph Tina Bexson by Tina Bexson It was two weeks since she ran away from England. It was 4 am and hot. She sat in the sand of the Sinai desert, her back…

Les Branson. Screenshot from the prizewinning documentary Guerrilla Filmmaker Les Branson’s interview with Paul Halas, with additional questions from Phil Hall and James McGuire. Les Branson is a filmmaker, poet, playwright, novelist, newspaper columnist and erstwhile business person, one of those people who’s annoyingly talented in multiple areas, and breathes fresh air into everything…

In the light of Sudeep Sen’s forthcoming participation in the International Colloquium of Poetry and Philosophy organised by Ulises Paniagua Olivares, Ars Notoria (The Art of the Noteworthy) is republishing Sudeep Sen’s essay Rabindranath Tagore as the Intimate Other. In this essay, “Tagore as the Intimate Other,” Sudeep Sen (labelled by the BBC Radio as one of…

Hugo Giovanetti Viola. Photograph Guillermo Wood. Hugo Giovanetti Viola (Uruguay, 1948) is a multifaceted artist who has worked in poetry, narrative, popular song, essays, theater, film, journalism, and cultural production. A guitar teacher since 1967 and director of the Taller Literario Universo since 1990, he co-founded the magazine Universo in 1970. During Uruguay’s de…

                       1819 was a miraculous year for English poetry. John Keats wrote six odes, the first five were written in the Spring, the sixth, in the Autumn. These six poems (On a Grecian Urn, On Indolence, On Melancholy, to a Nightingale, to Pscyhe and To Autumn) have become a foundation stone of English Literature.…

Photograph Inge Colijn by Inge Colijn Geneva Camp in Dhaka, Bangladesh, is an old urban refugee camp. With the 1947 partition of India many Urdu speaking Biharis moved to then East-Pakistan. Those who supported the West Pakistan army during the 1971 Liberation War remained stranded here as stateless communities when East-Pakistan became Bangladesh. Between…

Courage. Prompted by Phil Hall X by Phil Hall I have always loved the Tarot since the age of 17, when I bought a pack in a Brighton New Age shop in 1977, and I can throw a pretty good set of cards. After use comes understanding. The set I used to scry the…

Darryl F. Zanuck. J. (1943) Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, Public Domain Darryl Zanuck and Fox by Norman B. Schwartz Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931) was not only the Wizard of Menlo Park, the inventor supreme of the incandescent light bulb and the phonograph. He was also the quintessential capitalist. Not only could he…

Spam has a reputation so durable it can survive a frying pan, a joke, a war and a supermarket aisle without so much as loosening its tie. Photograph Kent Ng Pexels Sweet and savoury hallucinations people mock, fear, hide, inherit, sneer at and eat anyway by Arun Kapil Some foods never enter the kitchen…

Photograph Francesco Ungaro by Phil Hall The Enochian tradition is based on the 16th-century works of Dr. John Dee (1527–1608) and his Irish scryer, Edward Kelley. It is named after the biblical patriarch Enoch, who “walked with God.” Dee and Kelley claimed to have been given a language and an outlook by angels. Dr.…

Close up of Hari, Solaris. Screen capture Mosfilm, Fair Use It leaves you almost speechless. Certainly readers have been bombarded. Every article, interview, story, every exhibition of paintings is worthy of being examined with close attention. In particular, we had wonderful contributions from the Art Editor, Paul Halas; the Food Editor, Arun Kapil; the…

Photograph by Pixabay The New Malden Writers’ Group was set up in 2023. If you want to join, come along to Wesley’s Café at the Methodist Church in New Malden on Fridays at 11am. The group meets for two hours. We take it in turns to read things to each other and share our thoughts.…

Óscar de la Borbolla. Courtesy of Óscar de la Borbolla Óscar de la Borbolla, writer and philosopher, was born in Mexico City in 1949, although, as the poet Fargue said: he has dreamed so much! He has dreamed so much that he no longer belongs here. Among his notable books are: Las vocales malditas (The Accursed…

Gustavo and Priscilla Gac-Artigas. Credit Priscilla Gac-Artigas Born in Santiago de Chile in 1944, Gustavo Gac-Artigas is a Chilean poet, novelist, playwright, and former political prisoner whose writing has long engaged with questions of memory, exile, testimony, and the ethical responsibilities involved in using language. Following the 1973 military coup, Gac-Artigas was imprisoned and…

Hari leans over to kiss Kris Kelvin. Screen Capture Mosfilm Fair Use by Phil Hall After Jules Verne, H. P. Lovecraft, Jack London, and H. G. Wells came huge advances in science and two horrifying world wars that exceeded all imagination in technology, horror, and human beastliness. In the post-war crop of speculative science…