Notes and Highlights from September 2026

Dana takes you on a tour of a “room of her own”.

Exploring the Literary Roots of Western Civilisation

The privilege of experiencing a great work of art at close range.

The Road to Civilisational Ruin

Matthew Rhys, star of "Widow's Bay" and "The Beast in Me," is the first male actor to earn this distinction this century

A Celebration of Literature's Greatest Poem

An Intriguing Journey with Gerard Manley Hopkins

A Celebration of Audiobooks

Remembering St Etheldreda on Her Feast Day

"We are no other than a moving-row / Of magic shadow-shapes that come and go"

Pulling on the threads that connect such Oxford luminaries as Newman, Ruskin, Morris, and Tolkien.

Notes and highlights from May 2026

Poet Malcolm Guite retells the Authurian legend in verse. Do stories like this have the power to revive a dying world?

ENCYCLICAL LETTER MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE [ Multimedia ] ___________________________

Putting Together a Long-Term TBR

"This very spiritual malaise of many young people reminds us that we are not the sum of what we have, nor matter randomly assembled in a mute cosmos," the pope said May 14. "We are a desire, not an al...

Part 2 of a Series

The Second Installment in an Ongoing Series

Notes and highlights from April 2026

On the Conscription of Christian Language and Symbolism

On the Conscription of Christian Language and Symbolism

The Iran war and a series of social media posts, including one depicting Trump as Jesus Christ, have some conservative commentators and fans suspecting the president may be the antichrist.

We are a group of lifelong library-learners who, like Hardy's Jude, wish they'd studied at Oxford, but couldn't. Ergo, we've learned to make do with piles of books. We blog about books, culture, Oxf...

Part One: Outbound - Wearyall - Evensong (May 14 - 15, 2025)

A Poem for Good Friday

Notes and highlights from March 2026

Practical Advice from a Decade's Experience

A bold new series explores the life and inspirations of the nineteenth-century novelist, journalist and social campaigner

It's Important That You Learn the Difference

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away

A Celebration of the Greatest Character Writer in English