Celebrating 400 Years of Shakespeare
Today – the 23rd April 2016 – is the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare. Recently, I went to see the amazing National Theatre Live performance of As You Like It (starring Rosalie Craig as Rosalind). The imaginative and daring staging of the forest did full justice to the ambiguity of Shakespeare’s vision of the Forest of Arden. The dim lighting, the sharp angles of … Continue reading Celebrating 400 Years of Shakespeare
Good Food, Not Just Any Food: Andrea Camilleri’s ‘Inspector Montalbano’s Arancini’ (1999)
Not long ago, I was informed by a student in an essay that the word ‘arancini’ had made its way into Oxford Dictionaries in 2014. This made me smile, of course, because it means Italian can still influence other languages –albeit mainly through food items. Then again, I find it hard to believe that such a specific Italian word for one type of Sicilian street … Continue reading Good Food, Not Just Any Food: Andrea Camilleri’s ‘Inspector Montalbano’s Arancini’ (1999)
Endlessly Surprising: Spanish Omelette in Louis MacNeice’s “Autumn Journal” (1939)
To read the poetry of Louis MacNeice is an endlessly rewarding activity. It can be intricately beautiful and philosophically insightful, but politically and culturally astute at the same time. Every time I come to write about MacNeice (which I have done often over the previous eight years), I am surprised again at the deft placement of a word, the freshness of an image, or his … Continue reading Endlessly Surprising: Spanish Omelette in Louis MacNeice’s “Autumn Journal” (1939)
The crème de la crème of afternoon tea: Chester cakes in Muriel Spark’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1961)
I came to Muriel Spark by a rather odd route: through the poetry of Louis MacNeice. If you follow this blog regularly you will probably be slightly bored of the fact that I frequently mention my absolute passion for MacNeice’s writing. If you feel that thought brimming up inside your mind, just go and read MacNeice’s Autumn Journal and hopefully you will understand why my … Continue reading The crème de la crème of afternoon tea: Chester cakes in Muriel Spark’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” (1961)
The Flavour of Scotland: Haggis, neeps & tatties, and Robert Burns’ ‘Address to a Haggis’ (1786)
It is Monday, 25 January, and the weather is not the greatest in Edinburgh, Scotland: it is all one grey air, the colour of the houses running out to the sky, and becoming one with it. And yet, one can feel a vague excitement around town. Today, in Scotland (in fact, all around the U.K.) people are celebrating the 257th anniversary of a rather special … Continue reading The Flavour of Scotland: Haggis, neeps & tatties, and Robert Burns’ ‘Address to a Haggis’ (1786)
Welcome, 2016! With the Blancmange from James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’ (1914)
Welcome back from the holiday, and a very happy new year from the Literary Kitchen! I do hope you are not too full still from the recent festivities to bear to look at the superb pudding I will be introducing you to today: blancmange. Actually, no. Feeling a little sick may be the best way to approach this dish, as for a good part of … Continue reading Welcome, 2016! With the Blancmange from James Joyce’s ‘The Dead’ (1914)
Happy 1st Birthday! With a Gingerbread House from Brothers Grimm’s Fairytale ‘Hansel and Gretel’ (1812)
This year I feel the countdown to Christmas has completely slipped through my fingers: even with the aid of a beautiful advent calendar, a couple of trips to Christmas markets, and mince pies distributed to my students on the very last day of term, I feel I have reached Christmas rather unprepared: just the time to hop on a flight, with some gifts still to … Continue reading Happy 1st Birthday! With a Gingerbread House from Brothers Grimm’s Fairytale ‘Hansel and Gretel’ (1812)
A Neglected Classic: Mildred Taylor, “Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry” (1976)
Last weekend I went into a bookshop chain and saw copies of Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman arrayed on a table just inside the door, waiting to be lifted by the hordes of Christmas shoppers anxious to please bookish friends and relatives this year. There has been a lot of disappointed, indignant, or outraged talk recently about Go Set a Watchman – the sequel to … Continue reading A Neglected Classic: Mildred Taylor, “Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry” (1976)
Feeling winter coming on? Time to read ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ (1874) and ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ (1886)
I recently saw the 2015 film adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd in the Queen’s Film Theatre in Belfast (a quick plug for what might be the world’s most comfortable cinema), and was struck by Hardy’s obsession with the relentless ferocity of the natural world. More accurately, perhaps, I was reminded of being struck by this theme when reading Hardy’s novels. (The … Continue reading Feeling winter coming on? Time to read ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ (1874) and ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ (1886)
A Literary History of Chocolate – Podcast
Hello friends and followers, The podcast of our lecture ‘A Literary History of Chocolate’, which took place on 23 September in Alington House, Durham, as part of a series of public lectures entitled Late Summer Lectures Series, is finally live! Simply follow the link below, and enjoy! (Best enjoyed with a cup of hot chocolate or a box of truffles in the vicinity) Nico & … Continue reading A Literary History of Chocolate – Podcast
Nico and Amy's Literary Kitchen 