Clive James: ‘I have put aside Shakespeare, to remind myself that others can write, too’
The best artists are a bit like children and the best critics are a bit like artists
March 2017
100 best nonfiction books of all time
The 100 best nonfiction books: No 59 – Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold (1869)
Arnold caught the public mood with this high-minded but entertaining critique of Victorian society, posing questions about the art of civilised living that still perplex us today
July 2015
The 10 best ...
The 10 best beach moments in culture
Don’t tarry at the water’s edge – take the plunge with some of the beach’s hottest starring roles in culture
February 2014
Rick Gekoski: finger on the page
Mots justes: pick the perfect word in a poem
When poets get it right individual words can add volumes of sense to their work. Trying to fill in some of their blanks is a useful lesson in this fine art
April 2007
The Saturday poem
Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold
The Dover Bitch: A Criticism of Life by Anthony Hecht
July 2004
Look we have coming to Dover!
So various, so beautiful, so new - Matthew Arnold, "Dover Beach"
February 2004
Oxford starts search for next professor of poetry
The University of Oxford has opened up nominations for its next professor of poetry, who will follow in the footsteps of Matthew Arnold, WH Auden and Seaumus Heaney.
December 2001
The last word on clones
Man hath all which Nature hath, but more, And in that More lies all his hopes of good - Matthew Arnold
