For my first post proper on this blog, I want to deal with one of those things that I’ve meant to write about before but has always seemed too petty. Indulge me while I go a bit Nicholson Baker. One of the trickier aspects of getting older is whether to change your name. All Davids (except the insufferably up themselves ones) are Daves in their youth, and remain ‘Dave’ to people who have known them since then. But, at some point, we ‘Dave’s have to decide what name to go by professionally. As a schoolteacher, in my mid 20’s, I chose to go by ‘Dave’. It would have felt pompous to do otherwise. Then my first short story was accepted for publication. A fortnight later,…
Welcome to my new website and blog. One of the new things that I plan to do here is post a song of the week, every week. As an appropriate way to start, here’s a superb new song, The Suburbs, from the forthcoming Arcade Fire album. It’s just come out on a white label 12″. Can’t wait to hear the album and see them live again. Note that songs of the week are for promotional purposes and will only be available for a short time, so visit often! Some will be songs that the artists themselves have released to the internet, like this one. Others will be obscurities that have never been released on CD or favourite numbers by artists that I believe deserve wider…
This will be the last post on this blog in the old format. Next month, it will return with a new look, at the same address. I wasn’t planning to write any more entries, wanting to keep the Stanley Middleton event as the top item until it was over. But the Stanley celebration is now fully booked (see below) so there’s no need. And this weekend, my thoughts have been dominated by the deaths, after long illnesses, of two other writers who I was lucky enough to know: Peter Porter, who died on Friday, and Alan Sillitoe, who died last night. I first met Alan in 1996. I got to meet him for the same reason that I got to know Stanley. I persuaded both…
On May 8th 2010, the University of Nottingham will host a celebration of the life of one of its most widely respected alumni, the novelist Stanley Middleton. The Booker Prize winning author died in July 2009, a week short of his 90th birthday. The celebration will include live music, readings from Stanley’s novels, poems and unpublished letters, together with short talks on his life and work. I’ll be introducing the event and talking about Stanley’s life. Like Stanley, but 40 years later, I’m a UoN alumni. The other speakers and readers will be Professors Philip Davis and John Lucas, critic Paul Binding, publisher Ross Bradshaw, poet Sue Dymoke, writers Barry Cole and Tamar Hodes, together with Stanley’s grandson, Matthew Lymn Rose and his granddaughter, Beth…
Every year for the last 21 years, we’ve sent a CD or cassette containing our favourite music of the year (strict rule, it has to be from the last 12 months) to our music loving friends, and if you’re one of them, you might want to look away from this blog until your copy arrives. We start posting them Monday, to catch the last post to Canada, China and (hopefully, Nicola!) Australia. For the last few years, I’ve also posted a few sleeve notes on this blog, writing one a day up to new year. I’ll be posting every day, except when we’re away. So, without any further ado, let’s begin. 1. The Fear – Lily Allen Dislike for her dad, combined with endless copyists,…