Fortnightly 178
The penultimate Fortnightly of 2024, starting with Richard Flanagan’s extraordinary Question 7.
Read More'Small Things Like These': contingencies and decisions
Another in a series of essays on Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These, this time examining ideas of contingency and decision-making, with references to King Lear, Brian Klaas, Robert Frost and W.B. Yeats on Maud Gonne.
Read More'King Lear' scene by scene 10
In episode 10 I whizz through three quick scenes first - Act 4, scenes 3, 4 and 5, and then pay proper attention to the immense and complex scene 6.
Read MoreThe Occasional 5
The fifth edition of The Occasional, close cousin to The Fortnightly for its paid subscribers, has lots of book recommendations.
Read More'King Lear' scene by scene 9
Episode 9 of the King Lear scene by scene podcast looks at the first two scenes in Act 4, the first in the immediate aftermath of Gloucester’s blinding, the second an opportunity to look at the character development of Albany throughout the play.
Read MoreFortnightly 177
Fortnightly 177 features football’s Video Assistant Referee system, and how it relates to … Leaving Certificate reform.
Read More#edchatie on Bluesky
Irish teachers miss the #edchatie discussion days, and now that we’re moving to Bluesky, here’s a proposal.
Read MoreVAR and Leaving Certificate English
Perhaps Daisy Christodoulou’s new book on the VAR system in football has relevance to Leaving Certificate reform in Ireland.
Read More'Morant' by Roy Goddard
Roy Goddard’s novel ‘Morant’ is strange, compelling, and certainly unique.
Read More'King Lear' scene by scene 8
Episode 8 of the King Lear scene by scene post looks at the horrifying Act 3 scene 7 - the blinding of Gloucester, and how images of seeing and blindness ramify through the story.
Read MoreLeaving Cert English Reform
The integrity of Leaving Certificate English is being threatened by misconceived reform proposals.
Read More'King Lear' scene by scene 7
Episode 7 of King Lear scene by scene looks at Act 3 scene 4 (the second one in the storm) and scene 6 (the mock trial). Scene 5 is skipped - little to say.
Read MoreFortnightly 176
Fortnightly 176 kicks off with the film of Small Things Like These, What English Teachers Can Do, and Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo.
Read MoreWhat Can English Teachers Do?
There’s a sense that right now the world is particularly dark. We often hear the unlovely word ‘polycrisis’. At such a time, English teaching might seem almost irrelevant and ineffectual. What can we do?
Read More'Small Things Like These': the film
Thoughts on the film version of Claire Keegan’s short novel Small Things Like These.
Read More'King Lear' scene by scene 6
Episode 6 of the King Lear scene by scene podcast looks at the first three scenes of Act 3, as the storm takes over.
Read More'King Lear' scene by scene 5
Episode 5 of King Lear scene by scene looks at the very significant but very short Act 2 scene 3 and then the much more meaty Act 2 scene 4. They are both connected by the idea ‘nothing’.
Read More'King Lear' scene by scene 4
Episode 4 of the King Lear scene by scene podcast looks at Act 1 scene 5, Act 2 scene 1 and Act 2 scene 2.
Read More'Small Things Like These': repeat webinar
Repeat of a webinar on teaching Claire Keegan’s novel Small Things Like These for those who missed the September session.
Read MoreFortnightly 175
The 175th edition of The Fortnightly leads with Nicholas Olsberg’s superb book on the architect William Butterfield.
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