Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · Jun 5

A statement on my having left Unbound/Boundless.

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Backlisted Podcast @backlisted.bsky.social · May 27

New episode up now. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend, with guest Nina Stibbe @ninastibbe.bsky.social in conversation with @johnmitchinson.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social and @birchos.bsky.social. Just my luck!
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/240...

240. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend — Backlisted

The wonderful Nina Stibbe , award-winning novelist and diarist, joins us for a discussion of Sue Townsend's classic comic creation . When it was first published in 1982, the confidential journal of ...

www.backlisted.fm

5 9 49

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Backlisted Podcast @backlisted.bsky.social · May 27

Tuesday 27th May. Lined up new episode of Backlisted for my commute. It was bloody brilliant! I thought Secret Diary of A. Mole 13¾ was just funny but intellectuals like @ninastibbe.bsky.social have convinced me it is actually searing critique of Mrs Thatcher etc. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/240...

240. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend — Backlisted

The wonderful Nina Stibbe , award-winning novelist and diarist, joins us for a discussion of Sue Townsend's classic comic creation . When it was first published in 1982, the confidential journal of ...

www.backlisted.fm

3 9 31

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 27

A new @backlisted.bsky.social in which we discover why guest @ninastibbe.bsky.social refused to review her fave book The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 at the time... with @iammilliam.bsky.social and @birchos.bsky.social‬ (who has never laughed so much)...
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/240...

240. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend — Backlisted

The wonderful Nina Stibbe , award-winning novelist and diarist, joins us for a discussion of Sue Townsend's classic comic creation . When it was first published in 1982, the confidential journal of ...

www.backlisted.fm

1 7 24

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Annabookbel @annabookbel.bsky.social · May 25

A short report on an event at Mostly Books in Abingdon on Friday: The lovely Joe Dunthorne in conversation with @johnmitchinson.bsky.social, on his new Jewish family memoir Children of Radium. annabookbel.net/an-evening-w...

An evening with Joe Dunthorne at Mostly Books

Joe Dunthorne is probably best known for his debut novel Submarine, published in 2008, which I read -pre-blog, and the 2010 film adapted from it by Richard Ayoade. Two more novels followed, Wild Ab…

annabookbel.net

1 3 9

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Boundless Magazine @boundlessmagazine.bsky.social · May 15

This is a literary event. Order it, read it

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 15

I'm very pleased and not a little relieved that this fine book is published today by @unboundsocials.bsky.social . It's GOLDENGROVE the fourteenth novel by the great Patrick McCabe.
uk.bookshop.org/a/2773/97818...

Goldengrove a book by Patrick McCabe.

‘Wild, anarchic, and wonderfully head-spinning’ Neil Jordan, award-winning film directorA dark theatrical comedy about the vexed and violent relationship between Britain and Ireland, from twice Booker...

uk.bookshop.org

2 6

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 15

The bliss of going rogue. A wonderful interview with Patrick McCabe in the @irishtimes.com on the publication of GOLDENGROVE by @unboundsocials.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

Patrick McCabe: ‘This whole idea of making money out of novels started in the 1980s with Martin Amis and Ian McEwan’

McCabe, who found himself adrift in the 21st-century book business despite his huge impact on the culture in the 1990s, on the bliss of going rogue

www.irishtimes.com

6 22

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 15

McCabe's language hits a rare pitch: it's a mongrel form of modernism, a sui generis mash-up of B movies and forgotten pop songs, poems and folk tunes, the ghosts of Joyce, Larkin, Hopkins and Kavanagh sharing pints with Eric Morecambe, Arthur Mullard and Phil Silvers. His late style - a wonder.

1 8

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 15

The jaunty tone gives way to a darker mood as abduction, torture, bombings ensue. GOLDENGROVE is McCabe's most political novel. The troubled relationship between Britain and Ireland, - two countries divided by a violent common history – is its deep theme.

1 1 5

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 15

The two clubbable Englishmen at its heart turn out to be agents of the British state, sent to infiltrate the IRA. The vibe darkens...

1 3

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 15

It's a comedy with a heart that's blacker than obsidian. Late sixties Dublin. A theatrical agency. A bar called Minty's. Heavy drinking, smoking and thespian excess of all kinds abound.

1 4

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 15

I'm very pleased and not a little relieved that this fine book is published today by @unboundsocials.bsky.social . It's GOLDENGROVE the fourteenth novel by the great Patrick McCabe.
uk.bookshop.org/a/2773/97818...

Goldengrove a book by Patrick McCabe.

‘Wild, anarchic, and wonderfully head-spinning’ Neil Jordan, award-winning film directorA dark theatrical comedy about the vexed and violent relationship between Britain and Ireland, from twice Booker...

uk.bookshop.org

1 6 23

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 15

🙏 It's a great interview (and a great book).

2

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · May 14

"So this is my England and a part of yours too – so different from the English Defence League versions of bigotry or the white Etonian dream of exclusion and superiority"

This is My England, and Yours: Reclaiming Englishness

Now that English Nationalism has been unleashed, Peter Jukes argues that we must all try to restore England's buried civic tolerance and historic diversity.

bylinetimes.com

4 6 37

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · May 14

"Somehow, I found myself elected to the infamous Bullingdon Club – surely the only state school-educated candidate ever to have been so embarrassed. I should have rejected it with contempt but I was curious"

From Sunderland to the Bullingdon Club: Englishness Unravelled

Unsatisfied with George Orwell's description of patriotism, John Mitchinson digs deep into his own personal history to untangle the complex roots of his Englishness.

bylinetimes.com

1 13 33

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Andy Miller @iammilliam.bsky.social · May 13

New @backlisted.bsky.social episode! The Image of Her (Les Belles Images) by Simone de Beauvoir, with Lauren Elkin @laurenelkin.bsky.social @johnmitchinson.bsky.social @birchos.bsky.social and me.
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/239...

239. The Image of Her by Simone de Beauvoir — Backlisted

To discuss The Image of Her (1966) by Simone de Beauvoir we are joined by writer and translator Lauren Elkin , whose previous books include Flâneuse: Women Walk the City ; Scaffolding and ...

www.backlisted.fm

1 8 48

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 13

A reminder that @backlisted.bsky.social has its own Backlisted Bookshop on @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social where you can buy all the books mentioned in today's episode (and all the 238 previous ones). Buying there supports the podcast & indie bookshops
uk.bookshop.org/lists/episod...

Episode 239: The Image of Her by Simone de Beauvoir

To discuss The Image of Her (1966) by Simone de Beauvoir we are joined by writer and translator Lauren Elkin, whose previous books include Flâneuse: Women Walk the City, Scaffolding and Art Monsters: ...

uk.bookshop.org

6 9

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Backlisted Podcast @backlisted.bsky.social · May 13

New episode up now. Les Belles Images (The Image of Her) by Simone de Beauvoir, with translator Lauren Elkin @laurenelkin.bsky.social in conversation with @iammilliam.bsky.social and @johnmitchinson.bsky.social.
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/239...

239. The Image of Her by Simone de Beauvoir — Backlisted

To discuss The Image of Her (1966) by Simone de Beauvoir we are joined by writer and translator Lauren Elkin , whose previous books include Flâneuse: Women Walk the City ; Scaffolding and ...

www.backlisted.fm

4 15 62

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 13

On today's @backlisted.bsky.social we discuss a book with the penetrating clarity of May sunshine - Lauren Elkin @laurenelkin.bsky.social joins @iammilliam.bsky.social & me to discuss her new translation of Les Belle Images (The Image of Her) by Simone de Beauvoir. www.backlisted.fm/episodes/239...

239. The Image of Her by Simone de Beauvoir — Backlisted

To discuss The Image of Her (1966) by Simone de Beauvoir we are joined by writer and translator Lauren Elkin , whose previous books include Flâneuse: Women Walk the City ; Scaffolding and ...

www.backlisted.fm

2 12

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · May 5

Dugin, Surkov, Rykov - the Trio at the Head of the Trojan Horse

A new opening to this epic saga starts at the Olgino Troll farm in St Petersberg circa 2012

open.substack.com/pub/pdjukes/...

Dugin, Surkov, Rykov - the Trio at the Head of the Trojan Horse

A new opening to this epic saga starts at the Olgino Troll farm in St Petersberg circa 2012

open.substack.com

2 17 57

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · May 1

Bursting with pride (like may blossom from a hedgerow) at the publication of this beautifully written, important book, WORDS FROM THE HEDGE. Hail to the hedgelaying word-hewer Richard Negus @troopersnooks.bsky.social! Out now from: @unboundsocials.bsky.social
unbound.com/products/wor...

Words from the Hedge: A Hedgelayer’s View of the Countryside

The definitive insider’s guide to one of the most essential yet often overlooked elements of the British countryside – the hedgerow.

unbound.com

5

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Andy Miller @iammilliam.bsky.social · Apr 29

Oh Jane Gardam has died. I number several of her novels amongst my favourites - A Long Way from Verona, Crusoe’s Daughter, The Queen of the Tambourine - and I was fortunate enough to spend an afternoon with her not so long ago. A great writer who was invested in the literary life to the end. RIP. 🙏

21 39 210

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · Apr 29

Kaliane's novel, the new Julia Lovell translation of Monkey King and other books mentioned in passing are available from the special @backlisted.bsky.social shop on @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social . Buying there helps support Backlisted and indie bookstores 🙏
uk.bookshop.org/lists/episod...

Episode 238: Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en

Kaliane Bradley, author of The Ministry of Time, joins John and Andy for a tour of Monkey King: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, the sixteenth-century fable widely regarded as one of the most impor...

uk.bookshop.org

2 8

John Mitchinson @johnmitchinson.bsky.social · Apr 29

The story of Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy & Tripitaka is transformed by Julia Lovell's 'witty and charismatic' translation, according to ace @backlisted.bsky.social guest Kaliane Bradley, whose bestselling debut The Ministry of Truth shares these qualities. @sceptrebooks.bsky.social @mariagluc.bsky.social

1 1 4

Reposted by John Mitchinson

Andy Miller @iammilliam.bsky.social · Apr 29

THE SPIRIT OF BACKLISTED WAS IRREPRESSIBLE.

1 2 14