Certain poems or songs send you back to a time and place. This short poem is called ‘When You Are Old’ by WB Yeats and you may know it well. It makes me think of my mother and we will celebrate the anniversary of her passing today. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam –… Read More Patrick Reads… ‘When You Are Old’ by WB Yeats
Brand spanking new on the Red Shed YouTube channel! Unboxing £4 Fountain Pens from Jinhao 599 and shimmer inks from Diamine. Also checking out Kaweco ruby red ink cartridges and Noodler inks. Not forgetting a new Rhodia A5 exercise book and Leuchhturm 1917 plain A5 bullet journal. Hope you enjoy today’s video!
So there I am, amidst the research and trying to write and attending conferences on Zoom (yah-boo!) and suddenly it’s over four months since Christmas. Four more months at home, shuttling around, making deals with myself that it’d just be for a few more weeks. I was burning, not quite out, but the candle was… Read More How I spent a week off my PhD
Hey! If you’ve come here to find the long-form paper that I presented at the ISA Convention on 7 April 2021, then you’re in the right place! If you click below, a PDF of the document should download. Please note: this is a work in practice, do not copy from or quote this document. Thanks!
It is lovely to be posting from the Red Shed again. It’s been about 5 months since posting this blog about Langston Hughes. I took a lot of shit from online trolls and commenters about being anti-racist. I’ll write more about that in the next few weeks. That felt frightening and, while I carried on… Read More Poetry: Once in a Lifetime, Snow – by Les Murray
I am furious. I don’t get overly passionate about too many things. But furious I am about the police brutality that killed George Floyd, whose murder has come to represent the visceral, violent, deathly intent behind racism. His is one story which is not an anomaly. A racism, an anti-black racism, that is not only… Read More Poetry: Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes
In the spirit of the good weather at the Red Shed, it was time for a summery poem! ‘Sumer is Icumen In’ is a mid-thirteenth century poem written in Middle English. It is sometimes known as the Cuckoo Song. This translation is by Bella Millett. Hope you’re keeping well. I’ve been busy-ish this last few… Read More Poetry: Sumer is Icumen In
This is a really beautiful piece of music originally recorded by the American group Bread in 1971. This version has lead vocals by Michael Connolly and backing from Patrick and Lorraine. It’s a lovely piece. Have a great day whenever you listen to this! Patrick xo
It’s a day, threatening to be an entire weekend, of high winds across Ireland. Ironically, it’s not that wet and not that cold, though hardly tropical in any sense! After a week of wading slowly through the treacle of wanting to write lots of good academic work, I’m glad it’s the weekend and soon time… Read More Poetry: Wind by Ted Hughes
In place of our recent run of music videos on a Sunday is something not too far away: the lyrics of ‘Fine & Mellow’ by Billie Holiday presented as a poem. It’s a piece full of heart, full of self-awareness and low in expectation of the fleeting nature of love. We’ve also got face masks,… Read More Poetry: Fine and Mellow by Billie Holiday
