Wool-gatherer 16

‘Of Potatoes and Paperclips’:  Poems by Douglas Dunn, John Davidson, Hugh MacDiarmid, William Dunbar and Iain Crichton Smith.  (See Extracts Page)

‘We are Supposed to be Amused’:  Elizabethan and Jacobean comedy – is it funny and/or relevant?

‘Facing the Music’:  The Boston cultural scene in 2000, according to Edward Bellamy.

‘Pictures of Lyly’:  Links between John Lyly and The Comedy of Errors.

‘Take no Chances with the Crackling’:  The importance placed by Shakespeare on not overcooking meat.

‘Learning to be Mother’:  Fleur Adcock looks askance at the ending of The Comedy of Errors.

‘Dey Tought Dey Taw a Puddy-tat’:  Cats as the accessory of choice for sinister villains.

‘Dressing Down to Advantage’:  Escaping from custody in disguise.

‘Who Made the Cookie Crumble?’:  Necessity used as a moral excuse in Euripides’ Medea.  (See Extracts Page)