Back in 1994 I interviewed the poet Dannie Absie in Cardiff when he was promoting his Selected Poems, then newly-published by Penguin. He was a patient and affable interviewee, laughing a lot – thankfully not at my questions. I wish I’d asked him more. I certainly wish I’d asked him about the lines he quoted … More Dannie Absie interview 1994
My first book is an account of the extraordinary 2017 General Election as seen by me. It was an election like no other and I hope I’ve given some sense of the excitement, energy and sometimes downright bafflement involved in covering it. You can buy ‘Nothing Has Changed’ directly from the Parthian books website here. Here’s … More Nothing Has Changed
Easily one of the strangest books I’ve ever read, this is the second volume of memoirs by the Cornish poet Jack Clemo. I’d read both his novels years ago and some of his verse, but this was new to me. So much is strange about it: the way he reviews his own poetry, his unique brand … More Jack Clemo, ‘The Marriage of a Rebel’
I enjoyed reading people’s mangled sayings recently. It all began when I overheard this brilliant example: I’m going to start collecting mangled proverbs and figures of speech. Just heard: ‘it’s a funny old chestnut.’ Fabulous. — Adrian Masters (@adrianmasters84) February 14, 2013 These were sent to me on twitter: @adrianmasters84 One for your list? DM … More Mangled Sayings
New politics blogpost here.
Over on the ITV Wales blog, my new post on rail fare rises and the decision the Welsh Government has to take.
Two new posts over on my politics blog. One on an interesting post-referendum party planned for next Friday. The other is a snippet about Rhodri Morgan’s memoirs. Meanwhile you can watch this week’s Sharp End here. It’s a referendum special – a debate between Rhodri Morgan for the Yes side and Rachel Banner from the … More Political snippets.
The early indications for Glasvegas’ new album are looking good. The single ‘Euphoria Take My Hand’, which is available on iTunes is magnificent. As is ‘The World is Yours.’ The video, below, is amazing: a rapid succession of images which reminds me of the dense and apparently random images in Adam Curtis’ documentaries like the … More Return of Glasvegas
I’ve just finished reading ‘A Man of the People’ by the great Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe. Despite being published in 1966 and set in an unnamed, newly-independent African republic, its bleak satire is remarkably fresh and not just in relation to African politics. Its judgements about motives are as true for Western politicians as they … More ‘We had all been in the rain together until yesterday.’
Many thanks to Simon Thomas for becoming the third guest lister on this blog. Simon is the former Plaid Cymru MP for Ceredigion and was also a special adviser to the Assembly Government. He’s the party’s lead list candidate in this year’s Assembly election. It’s been a pretty good year and I’ve noticed that these … More Simon Thomas’ Top Ten 2010
Adrian Masters 