Author Archives: Bob
‘Socks of the Spirit’ : A Little Nietzsche
Just the pre-op thing, as my go-slow prep has allowed me time for reflection on all sorts of stuff past and present. Stumbled on this in Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in Walter Kaufman’s splendid translation: On Scholars They are skillful … Continue reading
My Unplanned Sabbatical
My bypass surgery’s been scheduled for 17 August, with my recovery and recuperation likely to take at least three months after that, so it looks as if this silly cardiac business is going to put a question mark over the rest … Continue reading
2015 Courses delayed
Hi, all. I’ve had angiogram today that has revealed that I will indeed need bypass surgery shortly. I’m seeing the surgeon 27 July and hope the actual surgery will happen as soon as possible after that. So, for the moment, all courses in … Continue reading
How I Teach
I get asked this a lot, and a few stray responses gathered in my head yesterday, in a big enough murmuration of starlings that I tried to collect them on paper. Here’s a PDF of the result. How I Teach
Arena Magazine Reviews
Ishiguro The Buried Giant Review I was recently asked to review Kazuo Ishiguro’s new novel for Arena Magazine. Here is the result. A few issues previously I reviewed Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake, a far less happy affair. So you … Continue reading
Yeats’ A Vision
I gave a brief (for me!) talk on A Vision, the occult classic by W.B. Yeats, as part of the celebrations commemorating his 150th birthday. I dressed for the occasion in a peackock-blue silk waistcoat (couldn’t find a pince-nez, so my … Continue reading
A Small Complication
Health issues have arisen for me (not too serious, but not negligible) that have unsettled the scheduling of the remaining courses for this year. Until I know more, I would ask that no one transfer any fees to my account … Continue reading
Linguistics Lecture at Monash
I’ve uploaded the two parts of a lecture I delivered 28 May, the last in Kate Burridge’s History and Sociology of English unit at Monash University. Kate had to attend an overseas conference in the final week, so she asked me … Continue reading
Three Poems in Arena Magazine
The current issue for April, 2015 (no. 135) has published three recent poems of mine. Since I first began writing bad knock-offs of T.S. Eliot and W.B. Yeats in my late teens, it’s been a very long road indeed. But … Continue reading
New Courses for 2015 Finalised!
Here is a PDF containing the details of all the remaining courses to run for 2015 in The Melbourne Literature Seminars. Final Timetable for Further 2015 Courses Recommended Texts All courses to take place in Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane. … Continue reading