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Reposted by Oliver Mantell

Bloodaxe Books @bloodaxebooks.bsky.social · 14h

Ahead of the Slung Low/ @lrb.co.uk special readings of the late Tony Harrison's long poem v. in Holbeck Cemetery on Sunday 12 October, John Newsham discusses the poem in the Morning Star.
morningstaronline.co.uk/article/vers...

V. A Homecoming: 12pm, 2.30pm & 5pm.
slunglow.org/v-a-homecoming/

Verses versus

“NEXT millennium you’ll have to search quite hard/ to find my slab behind the family dead.”With these words, poet Tony Harrison, who died last week aged 88, opened his unflinching, state-of-the-nation...

morningstaronline.co.uk

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 14h

I’d say the time they spend there seems inefficient (and based on needing to be seen to put things ‘on the record’ more than co-developing wisdom…). And the late sitting/votes feel unreasonable.

I agree re tension between roles: perhaps more support re case-work would help to rebalance things?

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 14h

Nice to see two excellent academic collections on audiences, data and policy [including my only (!) academic article] in new (more affordable) editions:

www.routledge.com/A-Reader-on-...

www.routledge.com/Audience-Dat...

Credit to @sdjhadley.bsky.social for editing/making them happen…

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 14h

I’m really looking forward to this…

Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 11d

Tony Harrison’s poem V to be performed in the Leeds cemetery that inspired it. www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/s...

Tony Harrison’s poem V to be performed in the Leeds cemetery that inspired it

The site-specific performance of the once controversial poem was planned for its 40th anniversary in October, but will now double as a tribute to the writer who died last week

www.theguardian.com

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 15h

Sounds sensible.

(Things like restructuring ‘debates’ to reduce hours in the chamber might also help).

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 15h

It seems so obvious they’re overwhelmed I’m surprised it’s even a debate(!). [except maybe *how* to address it].

I think MPs office/staff costs being described as ‘expenses’ is also unhelpful: it makes it sound like they’re spending money on themselves, not on discharge of their duties.

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Mark Taylor @markrt.bsky.social · 20h

funded quants x cultural policy x sociology PhDs don’t come up very often. this looks great! please circulate!

Christiaan Monden @cmonden.bsky.social · 20h

Great (paid) PhD opportunity. Excellent environment, conditions, and supervisors. And a topic close to my heart. (Selfish reason for promoting this: I fear there won't be enough concerts for retired me to go to. Geen dag zonder Bach.) vacatures.knaw.nl/job/The-Hagu...

PhD position "Is the audience for classical music concerts fading out?"

vacatures.knaw.nl

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Rick Burin @rickburin.bsky.social · 1d

Has anyone ever used the gimmick of advertising, “… and Marlon Brando as Godot”, or whatever.

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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 1d

I love that Beckett is still confounding people after all these years. It’s like “I went to see The Rite of Spring. I don’t know what the hell that was but it sure wasn’t music. I felt like rioting. One star”

Lux "Nightmare" Alptraum @luxalptraum.com · 2d

TFW you paid $1400 to see Beckett’s most famous work without knowing anything about it

One Star Review of Waiting for Godot on Broadway
I recently attended Waiting for Godot on Broadway and spent over $1,400 for two Row C seats (103 and 104). I'm a longtime admirer of Broadway productions and even hold a season pass for Shea's Performing Arts Theatre, so I came in with genuine enthusiasm and high expectations. Unfortunately, this show was unlike anything ! have ever experienced —and not in a good way.
What I encountered was not the artistry, music, or emotional storytelling I usually associate with Broadway, but instead what felt like an endless cycle of nonsensical conversation between characters who seemed trapped in their own madness. I tried-truly tried-to find meaning, symbolism, or even a thread of emotional resonance. I stayed through the first half hoping the second would offer clarity. But by intermission, it was clear: this was a waste of both time and money.
Keanu Reeves is an actor I respect greatly, but I cannot fathom why he would agree to participate in such a disjointed, inaccessible production. His talent was lost in a performance that defied reason rather than provoked insight.
To anyone considering attending: unless you are drawn to highly abstract, nearly incomprehensible theater, I strongly caution you against this show. For the average, educated, thoughtful theatergoer, it is far more frustrating than fulfilling. In my opinion, this was the single most disappointing Broadway experience I've ever had - an unfortunate waste of money and, more importantly, of time.

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 1d

Good to know, thanks (adds it to ‘the list’…)

Reposted by Oliver Mantell

Matthew Francis @mfrancispoet.bsky.social · 1d

An old poem of mine that has been having a bit of a moment on Facebook.

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 1d

Oh my: that’s rather special…

(Which collection is it in?)

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Twlldun @twlldun.bsky.social · 1d

People are asking me my opinion on the Nobel prize for literature winner and I would say - firstly - that László Krasznahorkai (Hungarian: [ˈlaːsloː ˈkrɒsnɒhorkɒi]; born 5 January 1954) is a Nobel Prize winning Hungarian novelist and screenwriter known for difficult and demanding[click to enlarge]

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 1d

FWIW I think @musicvenuetrust.bsky.social could say something about reductions in bar sales for younger gig audiences…

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 2d

Surely the spiciest take on this topic…

<JohnDrydenEatingPopcorn.gif>

John Attridge @johnattridge.bsky.social · 2d

Instead of competing for limited resources, other humanities disciplines should accept that they are all essentially branches of literary criticism

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Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 2d

Anyway good luck to everyone who’s gone full circle from ‘everyone must read Dryden’ curriculums (Gove 2010) to ‘bin English degrees’ (Badenoch 2025), hope the years of rote learning poetry felt worth it

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Colin Yeo @colinyeo.bsky.social · 2d

Properly and appropriately searing criticism of Jenrick by @stephenkb.bsky.social in his newsletter this morning. Jenrick is obsessed with skin colour as a supposed signal of integration. There's a word for people like that.
ep.ft.com/permalink/em...

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 3d

I’m now worried that @jonnelledge.bsky.social may have missed a huge book deal, by not realising which ‘Harper Collins’ it was… 🤣

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 3d

(‘All done by…’ is a nice touch, btw).

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 3d

I’d be up for that, if I happen to be down in London for work: looks like a tasty feast of poetry tapas…

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 3d

Ah, my bad. Hope it gets a good turnout, anyway.

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 3d

The award ceremony will be tricky: if you know they’re in Stockholm, you don’t know who they are. If you know who they are, you don’t know if they’re in Stockholm…

BBC news story: ‘Physics Nobel prize awarded to three quantum physicists’

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 3d

Looks great: enjoy!

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 3d

Drake meme: 'Life of Showgirl' [no]; James Joyce Enigmas and Puzzles exhibition [yes]

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Oliver Mantell @olivermantell.bsky.social · 3d

In what way? (as a left-liberal [?] parent in the catchment area…).

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