Dai George

Does anybody know of a proper list of academic publishers in the field of poetry criticism / poetics? I have a pretty good working knowledge but want to be systematic

"international law must be followed" is european for "thoughts and prayers"

Haha yes, another neat phenomenon. Almost as much self-analysis on the platform as there is in poetry 😅

A guilty pleasure (or sympathy) I'll admit to: reading the care-worn personal essays of dudes who never quite got their book away, or did but it never took off. Some bitter and entitled, but quite a few self-aware, balanced, imbued with tinctures of homespun wisdom. Monsieur Bovary, it could be moi

Enjoying being on Substack - and probably clicking with it / finding my algorithm more there than here, if I'm honest - but man there are a lot of diatribes about the publishing industry, makes you wonder how we ever get anything done.

This includes the recent splurge I had in the Fitzcarraldo sale, thereby breaking my own promise, and will include any further transgressions also. This makes me think there must be some emotionally healthier, less guilt-ridden way to hold myself to account.

Unsettling realisation that, at the current rate, I am not allowed to buy any more books in my lifetime if I'm to make good on a self-promise that I would read everything on my to-read shelf + good shit on my parents' shelves before buying new gear.

I ate some cherries that were being saved for decorating cupcakes, and I can report that playfully citing William Carlos Williams does not help one's case.

The Real Citizens of Nowhere A cri de coeur about racist Britain

Feeling miserable about the rise of Reform and the far-right, and realised it was a self-centred feeling, in part, about what *I* stand to lose if they had their way. Brits need to start talking about migration as if we have skin in the game.

open.substack.com/pub/beyondme...

Beyond Mercy | Dai George | Substack Books, ideas, political hopes - a workbook for the poems I may never write. Click to read Beyond Mercy, by Dai George, a Substack publication. Launched 2 days ago.

As of this week, I have a Substack. Would be great to have you along for the ride.

open.substack.com/pub/beyondme...

Beyond Mercy | Dai George | Substack Books, ideas, political hopes - a workbook for the poems I may never write. Click to read Beyond Mercy, by Dai George, a Substack publication. Launched 2 days ago.

As of this week, I have a Substack. Would be great to have you along for the ride.

open.substack.com/pub/beyondme...

I mean, I really am

Be warned, I'm writing a long creative-critical verse essay called 'Homage to Brian Wilson'

Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan among 380 writers and groups to call Gaza war ‘genocide’ Letter also signed by Hanif Kureishi and Russell T Davies urges ceasefire and unrestricted distribution of aid

Proud to have signed this. Free Palestine ✊🏻

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

Talking with a colleague about this. Planning to develop this into a paper / essay. Any suggestions for further reading?

What's your least favourite publishing cliché / euphemism? Mine's probably 'luminous prose', a sure sign I will find the book precious and boring, with ironically little va va voom in the prose.

From Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Toddler

I do not know which to prefer,
The tantrum with the yoghurt
Or the tantrum with the choo choo,
The toddler going apeshit
Or just after.

Obviously things have got dramatically worse in the US recently, and I don't want to diminish that, but I've been at *so many* conferences in the UK on topics like empire, humanitarianism and development where multiple speakers from the Global South have been denied visas or held at the border

Deathly dull content but I recently bought a block of mild cheddar for the 2yo, worrying abt the salt content of the usual Cornish crunchers we have in the house, and WHAT THE HELL IS THIS STUFF. Weird lactic playdough, never once laid hands on it till now.

You make me dizzy, Peter Gizzi

Anyway, for anyone invested in this, I had a letter published in this week's TLS, responding to something that I feel tipped over into unfair distortion, the start of which I've screengrabbed.

www.the-tls.co.uk/regular-feat...

I know I sound very Waterstones Dad here but I NEED TO KNOW!

What's the best book to read about the expansion and (sub)urbanisation of London? Something that tells me how Finchley Road went from being fields to city in the 19th C. Growth of the railroads and the rise of Metroland - all that.

Happy Mothers Day!

Also this 😅

I'm not the hardiest when it comes to *any* criticism tbf but I do hope to take legit points on board and understand the role that vanity and sensitivity play in these matters. With this one, I think the reviewer got off on the wrong foot with it. Sorry you had that experience, very cheap shot.

Thanks, yeah it's not venemous, just a little condescending in parts, using words like 'airy', 'zestful' and 'hearty', which feel unfair to the level of criticism in the book. But I would say that.

And I know it's not good form to air these thoughts in public, so better nip it there!

I had a bad review in the TLS a few months back. Read it for the first time today and gotta admit it's knocked me. Ah well - important to acknowledge these things. Here it is, for those with access.

www.the-tls.co.uk/literature/p...

In unreasonable times, art cannot be expected to appear in reasonable forms in reasonable speech acts in league with the official language when there is nothing official about language and there are no boundaries to what can be uttered officially official language itself a way of kidnapping meaning.

By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept.