Subscribe to my monthly newsletter here for all my latest writing. If, as John Keats wrote, autumn is the season of 'mists and mellow fruitfulness' it's also the season of cooking meat and veg in a big pot for hours on end. In short, the season of stew. In Northern Irish vernacular 'to stew' is a pejorative term, meaning to brood for a long time over a matter. Indeed, it's not a very appetising word, is it? Stew? Especially when said in the flat vowels of the Ulster accent, which seems to...

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter here for all my latest writing. ‘Complexe, mais pas compliqué.’ Maurice Ravel on composing ‘Complex, but not complicated’ – this was the phrase Maurice Ravel passed on to Ralph Vaughan Williams about composing, as his mentor. It reminds us of another famous phrase by another famous Frenchman, Auguste Escoffier, the chef who once asserted ‘above all, keep it simple.’ It might also bring to mind red wine, or whiskey, or cheese or bread, for what could be...

Subscribe to my monthly newsletter here for all my latest writing. The Enemies Last night they came across the river and Entered the city. Women were awake With lights and food. They entertained the band, Not asking what the men had come to take Or what strange tongue they spoke Or why they came so suddenly through the land. Now in the morning all the town is filled With stories of the swift and dark invasion; The women say that not one stranger told A reason for his coming. The intrusion Was...