Category Archives: Uncategorized

A friend sent me this photo from Saturday’s Guardian : See? I have readers! What’s holding his attention is this travel piece (last but not least of one of four featured walks) on the little bit of heaven that is … Continue reading →

My latest Country Diary is about the Mistle Thrush. I tilted it towards its publication date – there’s a no-nonsense aspect to this species that eschews romance, or any kind of frippery. This is a species that “flings” its song … Continue reading →

Last spring, I was delighted to be offered the chance to participate in the Belfast Book Festival at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast. I was invited to be in conversation with Sarah Gibson, author of the marvellous book of … Continue reading →

It was Mary Oliver’s fourth anniversary a few days ago (17th January). I decided to mark the day by following her own perennial example. I rose early and went for a walk. I’m within a short walk of the Lagan … Continue reading →

The name is like a poem. But this is my latest Country Diary. I made a foray to home territory, my natal country, the place where I was “reared”, as we used to say. While I was there, I had … Continue reading →

Last Wednesday, 10 August 2022, Derry poet Mícheál McCann launched his gorgeous pamplet “Keeper” (edited by Ben Townley-Canning, fourteen poems press), at the Sunflower Bar in Belfast. It was a lovely evening. Ben came over from London to introduce, and … Continue reading →

My latest Country Diary on the much-loved colony of black guillemots in Bangor was a joy to write. Well, it’s true to say that all my Country Diaries are a joy to write, even when they mean getting up at some godawful … Continue reading →

My latest contribution to The Guardian’s Country Diary celebrates the swifts of the Crescent Arts Centre; and, indeed, celebrates how the Crescent Arts Centre celebrates them itself, both in its care of the nesting colony, and through the Belfast Book … Continue reading →

I was delighted, if that’s the right word, to see Carol Rumen’s analysis of Strange Meeting in today’s Guardian. Like one of the commentators below the article, I too grew up during the Troubles and was educated in a convent … Continue reading →