K.A. Laity's Blog, page 16

Out Now in Paperback!: Always Different, Always the Same #TheFall

Always Different, Always the Same Critical Essays on The Fall EDITED BY EOIN DEVEREUX AND MARTIN J. POWER – FOREWORD BY GAVIN FRIDAY With many incarnations, The Fall (1976-2018) were one of the most influential bands to emerge in the British Post-Punk Scene. Their unique sound and distinct iconography have had a lasting impact on music fans and... Read More

Bluebells

I’m always happy when I get back to Scotland in time for the bluebells. These flowers have their own stories and it’s not for me to tell them — at least not right now, as I have deadlines — but they turn my mind to so many other stories. Many of them deal with the... Read More

Deluxe Strange & Norrell FTW

I was delighted — in the mad, action-packed, over-filled days before my departure — that the much anticipated last-I-swear-splurge-before-imminent-unemployment arrived: the Folio Society edition of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Many of you know how much I delight in Susanna Clarke’s novel, but with the addition of illustrations and glorious endpapers by Charles Vess, is... Read More

A Blow on A Bruise

“A blow, expected, repeated, falling upon a bruise with no smart or shock of surprise, only a dull and sickening pain and the doubt whether another like it could be borne.” Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

Ripley on the ‘flix

I had equal parts of anticipation and dread for this new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith‘s The Talented Mr Ripley especially as it was by schmaltzy Spielberg’s pal who wrote Schindler’s List and the film Hannibal. I take it all back: he read the book — or rather books as it became clear. Even better, he... Read More

Elena Steier

It’s so hard to lose people and then to try to say something about that loss. Elena was my friend, sometimes my collaborator, always bringing the unexpected and what would she say? ‘Oh well. What can you do?’ and then she would do it: write a story, sketch out a comic, go to spin class.... Read More

Dundee Tapestry

Because I am missing Dundee, I finally remember to upload some photos of the Dundee Tapestry at the V&A as well as one from before the talk with Iain R. Webb for his exhibit The Fashion Show, which was also great fun. Yes, The Cundeez feature in the tapestry, which is pretty cool. This year... Read More

Write 4 a Day: 14 Apr 2024

Join us for the next of our monthly one-day writing retreats in beautiful surroundings in Berne NY.

Generator Projects 2024 Members Show

Charlotte Brontë: The Professor

An impulse at the Oxfam Book Shop — AKA my local kryptonite dealer (must weed some more to donate)! Undoubtedly it’s due in part to the end of my career as a tenured professor (though in this story it is ‘professor’ in the French sense of teacher). Anyway, I always enjoy spending some time with... Read More