Andrew Jamison

BBC Witness History, BBC Sounds 'Time Is Short' were three words hung on a Presbyterian church in Comber, Co. Down we always used to drive past on the way to or from Belfast. In fact I've written a poem about it, by way of an elegy, in my latest collection . But, it's true - time is short and entering my 40th year, it's hard not to feel like it's getting increasingly shorter, which is why, when I come across a ten-minute podcast which distills the life of a great writer I'm n

Read about my latest television picks here. Celebrity Traitors, BBC IPlayer Big fringe; big castle; big lies – Traitors must be back. And this time it’s the celebrity version. If, like me, you are a sceptic of celebrity versions of reality TV programmes – because, well, aren’t celebrities just normal people? – you may well be watching this with a critical eye. We live in an age where the line between normal person and celebrity is blurring, thanks (I think I mean thanks) to s

Blue Lights (BBC IPlayer) This is the third series of Bafta-winning Blue Lights and, boy oh boy, is it better than ever. Coming from...

Find out what I've been reading, watching, listening to recently. Listening Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour - Happy Birthday Van the Man, BBC...

Find out what's on Andrew's cultural radar this week. Reading Michael Ondaatje, A Year of Last Things  (Cape, 2024) Ondaatje's most...

Find out what I've been reading, watching, listening to recently. Listening Words and Music: The Coastal Path (BBC Sounds) I’ve always...

Reading:  Love Poet, Carpenter: Michael Longley at 70, ed. Robin Robertson, (Enitharmon, 2009) I’ve finally got round to alphabetising my...

Reading Precipice by Robert Harris This is not my first Robert Harris novel, as I read Enigma  before. Having led a school trip to...

"The programme discussed the effects a nuclear war would have on the planet." Reading Bad Lilies  is an online poetry magazine edited by...

"It's an excellent listen and I'm hooked." Reading I was given a bundle of poetry books from a neighbour clearing out their home last...

Listening Take Four Books (BBC Radio 4) I've always found it such a treat to listen to authors talk about their work, and share insights...

Reading: Luke Allan/The Little Review Listening: Kim Moore on The Essay/ The Media Show Watching: Death Valley/Race Across the World/The Mirror and the Light "It's amazing how groups of men standing around in funny costumes... makes for good TV, but it does..." Reading I’ve been aware of the poetry of Luke Allan  for a while, and his role in editing Oxford Poetry , but I just recently came across this arresting, innovative non-fiction piece he’s written about his mother’s sui

Find out what I'm engaging with this week Listening I’ve just listened to this podcast where Bloodaxe poet Jane Griffiths is interviewed...