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Author Archives: A S H Smyth

All good things must come to an end

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Some Trick: thirteen stories by Helen DeWitt New Directions, £22.95, pp.197 Certain American States by Catherine Lacey Granta, £12.99, pp.190 Hostages by Oisín Fagan Head of Zeus, £8.99, pp.269 Notes from the Fog by Ben Marcus Granta, £12.99, pp.266 The Abyss and Other Stories by Leonid Andreyev Alma Books, £8.99, pp.315 . Only Helen DeWitt […]

Filed in Journalism, review | Tagged Alien, Alma Books, Americans, Anglo-Irish, art, Ben Marcus, Berlin, Bertrand Russell, bombs, books, Britishness, Catherine Lacey, children, coffee, computers, Cotton Eye Joe, crucifixion, death, domestic affairs, footnotes, genius, Granta, handjobs, Head of Zeus, Helen DeWitt, humour, Ireland, Islam, Leon Wieseltier, Leonid Andreyev, linguistics, madness, maths, mental health, music, New Directions, New York, novels, Oisín Fagan, Oxford, painting, parents, plays, Poetry, publishing, revolution, Roy Keane, Russians, short stories, South Park, Spectator, terrorism, the Kaddish, Tolstoy, torture, WWI, xkcd | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE #8

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Of queens, Slovenes, and the birthplace of James Douglas Morrison. — For Queen Mob’s Tea House

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Tagged Bach, bulls, construction, crime, Denmark, Europeans, family, George Herbert, Gilgamesh, Italy, Jim Morrison, money, Nelson Evening Mail, obscenity, poets, Queen Mob's Tea House, royalty, running, satire, Sheba, Slovenians, Special Branch, the English, vomit, wood, writing, Zbigniew Herbert | Comments (0)

Haiku (Sunday night now)

Sunday, January 13, 2019

It’s Sunday night now, and the whole house stinks of steak. Frankly erotic.

Filed in Poetry | Tagged erotica, haiku, meat, Sundays | Comments (0)

The tour of Babel

Friday, January 4, 2019

Review of Gaston Dorren’s Babel: Around the World in 20 Languages. — For Geographical

Filed in Journalism, review | Tagged Gaston Dorren, Geographical, linguistics, non-fiction, Royal Geographical Society | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE #7

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Of gypsies, greys, and Copehill Down. — For Queen Mob’s Tea House

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Tagged Nelson Evening Mail, Queen Mob's Tea House, satire | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE #6

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Of Zulus, Zac, and Winston Churchill (novelist). — For Queen Mob’s Tea House

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Tagged Nelson Evening Mail, Queen Mob's Tea House, satire | Comments (0)

This Is Just To Say – or; On a domestic argument between two writers

Sunday, December 9, 2018

‘After telling my wife about Boston’s Great Molasses Flood, she accused me of putting together a fake Wikipedia page, just to mess with her.’ — Navin Weeraratne . I had researched that story about the Great Molasses Flood which you were clearly hoping I had made up Forgive me it was pretty unbelievable so sweet and […]

Filed in Poetry | Tagged Boston, death, disaster, floods, molasses, Navin Weeraratne, The Pikey Laureate, Thilani Samarasinha, Truth, Wikipedia, William Carlos Williams | Comments (0)

Found poetry

Friday, December 7, 2018

Filed in Poetry | Tagged Found poetry, Great Western Railway, train-travel | Comments (0)

NEWS AT A GLANCE #5

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Of arshins, poods, and workplace happiness. A whole new week’s worth of the news where you aren’t. — For Queen Mob’s Tea House

Filed in Journalism, NEWS AT A GLANCE | Tagged accents, Alan Titchmarsh, Armenia, army, BTS, children, Christmas, doctors, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, employment, health, Italians, measurements, men, Nelson Evening Mail, pens, politics, Queen Mob's Tea House, Richard Dawkins, Robert Browning, Russians, satire, Shakespeare, Sri Lanka, the Irish, the Orient Express, the Scots, theatre, train-travel, vending machines, wolves, work | Comments (0)

‘5 Living Presidents’? ASH Smyth demands a recount

Saturday, December 1, 2018

A list of all the living presidents, as at 5:57pm, December 1st, 2018 – for reasons that, I think, should be self-evident. — For Queen Mob’s Tea House

Filed in correspondence, Journalism | Tagged Americans, politics, presidents, Queen Mob's Tea House | Comments (0)