Graeme Richardson
@ravoon.bsky.social
Poetry Critic for the Sunday Times. Anglican Priest. Poetry Collection, "Dirt Rich", out from Carcanet in January 2026. TLS contributor since 2010. All views very much my own.
Love a bit of Paul Kingsnorth 👍
January 21, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Love a bit of Paul Kingsnorth 👍
It's a five part poem that sort of combines The Waste Land with early Auden, so - always about death but also confidently shouting commands at you to look at things.
January 21, 2026 at 1:30 PM
It's a five part poem that sort of combines The Waste Land with early Auden, so - always about death but also confidently shouting commands at you to look at things.
From a poem called "Calamiterror" (which it is). The next two lines are: "The bud beginning, the burning salamander / Suspended in his breast, the shambles in the bowels". I mean, I am crying with laughter typing it out...
January 21, 2026 at 1:27 PM
From a poem called "Calamiterror" (which it is). The next two lines are: "The bud beginning, the burning salamander / Suspended in his breast, the shambles in the bowels". I mean, I am crying with laughter typing it out...
Maybe - Eliot published GB's poem Daedalus in the Criterion when he was 21. That sort of success could swell your head (or your bollocks, which may be what happened to father-of-15 George).
January 21, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Maybe - Eliot published GB's poem Daedalus in the Criterion when he was 21. That sort of success could swell your head (or your bollocks, which may be what happened to father-of-15 George).
Also - as I understand it - the coincidence of Barker dying on the day of the review was noted by a gossip columnist on another paper (don't know who) who implied that JC had killed George. Which Elspeth may have believed...
January 21, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Also - as I understand it - the coincidence of Barker dying on the day of the review was noted by a gossip columnist on another paper (don't know who) who implied that JC had killed George. Which Elspeth may have believed...
Nice piece! But JC was right about Barker, and Sisson and Massie were wrong.
January 21, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Nice piece! But JC was right about Barker, and Sisson and Massie were wrong.
I didn't realize this was how it worked. Please now write a "What A Carve Up" style novel about gender politics in the last fifty years called "The Worm That Turned."
January 21, 2026 at 8:50 AM
I didn't realize this was how it worked. Please now write a "What A Carve Up" style novel about gender politics in the last fifty years called "The Worm That Turned."
A lovely prose-poem, Richard, thank you
January 21, 2026 at 8:43 AM
A lovely prose-poem, Richard, thank you
And I too wish you all the best with your own daunting task (sings) "Climb every mountain, ford every stream" etc
January 17, 2026 at 12:28 PM
And I too wish you all the best with your own daunting task (sings) "Climb every mountain, ford every stream" etc
Thanks, Ian - it's kind of you to be so helpful
January 17, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Thanks, Ian - it's kind of you to be so helpful
Ok. But I have already asked Craig Raine to fake a heart attack if I run out of things to say 👍
January 16, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Ok. But I have already asked Craig Raine to fake a heart attack if I run out of things to say 👍
A good point, yes.
January 16, 2026 at 8:38 PM
A good point, yes.
Bless you, Sarah - you are a glutton for punishment
January 16, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Bless you, Sarah - you are a glutton for punishment