Richard Gwyn

Deconstructing the Wise Old Man

  Lord, protect us from the wise old men of literature Though in fact, the Lord may be the last person to do this protecting. At the literary festival I am currently attending, and at every such conference… Read More

The Third Reich, by Roberto Bolaño

  In La Universidad Desconocida, the collected poems that Roberto Bolaño’s widow, Carolina López, brought together after her husband’s death in 2003, she includes in the foreword an unpublished piece called ‘My Literary Career’ that Bolaño had scribbled… Read More

Blistering Blue Barnacles!

Buckwheat pancakes with maple syrup and bacon (the latter a rare commodity in the Blanco kitchen these days) all washed down with lashings of coffee made with real beans: what a way to start a Sunday. Not only… Read More

Post-canícula promenade

  The howling of the village dogs has calmed down over the past week, due to the passing of the canícula (named for the dog star, Sirius, and its associated theme of mad dogs/midday sun, hence also ‘dog… Read More

Roberto Bolaño, disappearances, and the Welsh

“To the south they discovered rail lines and slum soccer fields surrounded by shacks, and they even watched a match . . .  between a team of the terminally ill and a team of the starving to death,… Read More