I went this morning to see an extraordinary documentary about Henry Darger that was showing at the Gate Cinema in Notting Hill. He lived most of his adult life as a hospital janitor in Chicago. He had spent 7 years of … Continue reading →

The Scotsman has come up trumps, including Amateurs in a Books of the Year roundup by Lesley McDowell who wrote: ‘Literary biographies tend to fare less well in the “shocks” category, perhaps a good thing. Joanne Hodgkin started the year … Continue reading →

There was an enjoyable (for me) interlude on Tuesday when I went to the Australian Broadcasting studios in central London to talk to David Green over the airwaves. He is putting together a documentary on the Durrell-Miller letters which is … Continue reading →

Another of those changing gear moments on the underground: I threw myself into a crowded train, my mind full of all the heap of stuff it is always full of. I looked up and saw the familiar red and black … Continue reading →

One of life’s weird coincidences: a section of my mother’s written memoir that got left out of Amateurs in Eden was about their first holiday after the disastrous move to Lincolnshire. They went to Cromer, on the North Norfolk coast, … Continue reading →