Rowan Williams describes The Naked God as a “tremendously engaging and positive book”, and indeed it is just that. The author, Vincent Strudwick, must be at least 84 years old but he writes with the fire, passion and conviction of a man half his age. And the book is a strange amalgam of autobiography, TwentiethContinue reading “Review: The Naked God – Wrestling for a Grace-ful Humanity by Vincent Strudwick”
Category Archives: Books
Review: Unbelievable? Why, after 10 years of Talking with Atheists, I’m Still a Christian
Quakers like words, and they produce enough of them, but if there is one form of words they are perhaps sceptical about, it is probably that type that is called ‘Apologetics’. Apologetics have been with Christianity since the very beginning; Christ himself engaged in them with his disputes against the Pharisees and Sadducees, and StContinue reading “Review: Unbelievable? Why, after 10 years of Talking with Atheists, I’m Still a Christian”
Sonnets for Christ the King, Joseph Charles Mackenzie: Review
It was Stephen Fry who said of the sonnet: “The ability to write them fluently was, and to some extent still is, considered the true mark of the poet”. How true; to expect each poet to write an epic is too much; and to be able to write a haiku is too trivial; and toContinue reading “Sonnets for Christ the King, Joseph Charles Mackenzie: Review”
Review: Apocalypse by Frederick Turner
There are nine Muses of poetry, daughters of Zeus or some say Apollo, and the Titaness, Mnenosyne, goddess of memory, past and future. And of these nine the most important is Kalliope, she of the Lovely Voice, and the muse of epic poetry; and she is considered by Hesiod and others, rightly in my opinion,Continue reading “Review: Apocalypse by Frederick Turner”
Review: The Parliament of Poets by Frederick Glaysher, Earthrise Press, 2012
Frederick Glaysher claims to be an epic poet, and furthermore to have written an epic poem, The Parliament of Poets. This is a huge claim and an astonishing ambition. Is he? Has he? Before responding to these two important questions by reviewing his book, let me outline why I think this is such a bigContinue reading “Review: The Parliament of Poets by Frederick Glaysher, Earthrise Press, 2012”
Why I Wrote the Book Mapping Motivation
It would be a great thing to be able to review one’s own book, in my case, Mapping Motivation, but it would of course be entirely invalid; I am, as they say, biased! On the other hand, though, I can answer the question: why did you write this book? And there is a perfect stormContinue reading “Why I Wrote the Book Mapping Motivation”
Outside In or Inside Out Poetry?
I read a poem recently that was written by a well known – famous even – English poet. The poem had been specially commissioned for a leading charitable organisation that was dealing with poverty and homelessness. To be fair, the poem was interesting – on its own terms. What he had done was artfully constructContinue reading “Outside In or Inside Out Poetry?”
The Mapping Motivation Series 