‘Oh, you’re thinking of doing English at university? You’ll have to be careful about that. A lot of people lose their faith.’ I was seventeen. I had been a Christian for several years, and I had loved books for much longer. I was doing two English A-Levels and thoroughly enjoying Read more…
Today I want to talk about a poem. Archaic Torso of Apollo We cannot know his legendary headwith eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torsois still suffused with brilliance from inside,like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low, gleams in all its power. Otherwisethe curved breast Read more…
A guest post from David Parry. A report from the Christian Literary Studies Group Annual Conference The Christian Literary Studies Group gathered at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, on Saturday 5th November for our annual day conference, which this year had the theme “Shaping Ends: Aspects of Apocalypse”. Current world events were Read more…
You should not keep any animal except a cat… Anyone who wishes may sleep in leggings… They should not snack between meals. These are a few of the more specific instructions given in the medieval treatise for religious recluses now known as Ancrene Wisse, ‘A Guide for Anchorites’, which was the Read more…