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Greg Buzwell

@gregbuzwell.bsky.social
1.1K followers 747 following 97 posts

Curator of Contemporary Literary Archives at the British Library. Co-curator of Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination exhibition. Loves literature, Doctor Who, the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe and anything spooky.

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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I’ve recently had a cold, and when not wistfully admiring the sunshine through the window I’ve been reading The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch. One of her best, in my view. I like this old Penguin edition with its delightful early 70s cover - dark, enigmatic and strange like the novel itself.
Penguin paperback edition from 1971 of Iris Murdoch’s novel The Nice and the Good. The cover shows a close up of a woman’s face, photographed through a cold blue filter.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Great list and I’m especially glad to see her second novel, Providence, on there. It seems to go under the radar quite a bit but for me it’s one of her best. The ending in particular is pitch-perfect. So bleak, and yet in hindsight so inevitable. It’s beautifully done.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Jigsaw puzzle of Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergere. Fun to do, even though it took quite a while. Possibly my favourite painting so in many ways it was a labour of love.
Jigsaw puzzle of Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergere.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Books read in August. The Maigret and Poirot novels were light relief amidst the cosmic and folk horror. The Knausgaard novel is terrific but deeply unsettling in places. Lost in the Garden and Solace House I loved, without ever fully getting my head 100% around either. Beautifully weird. #BookSky
Five novels - Solace House, Lost in the Garden, The Mystery of the Blue Train, The School of Night and Maigret’s Holiday.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Went to Ely over the weekend and as well as visiting the cathedral (of course) and Toppings (of course) I had a look around the Stained Glass Museum. So much beautiful artwork on display! The piece by Harry Clarke, from which this is a detail, being my favourite. I feel a new obsession coming on …
Detail from a stained glass window by Harry Clarke showing slender figures, wearing robes of green, blue, brown and orange. The glass itself can be seen at the stained glass museum in Ely.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Books read in July. It was a quiet month (too hot by half …) but these were all very enjoyable. The Ithel Colquhoun book brought back many happy memories of holidays spent in Sennen, close to Colquhoun’s beloved Lamorna. It’s a beautiful and fascinating part of the world.
Four books - The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy Boston, Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout, The Living Stones by Ithel Colquhoun and Holy Orders by John Banville.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Also in Crowland is this gorgeous old phone box which was saved and repurposed to house a little display on the town’s history. A lovely idea but, like so many of my generation, having been traumatised by a late-night showing of ‘La Cabina’ in my youth I just admired it from the outside.
Red telephone box, repurposed to house a display on the history of Crowland.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Made the trip out to Crowland the other day for a look at the abbey ruins. Grand and melancholy in equal measure, especially when seen beneath a low, grey sky. Plenty of butterflies and wildflowers though, which lightened the mood.
Crowland Abbey ruins, out in the wilds of Lincolnshire.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Books read in June. Definitely something of a landscape and countryside vibe going on as the hot weather drifted by. Hard to pick a favourite as they’re all excellent. #BookSky
Four books, Upon a White Horse by Peter Ross, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, Weymouth Sands by John Cowper Powys and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Books read in May. I’d read the Agatha Christie novel before, but I wanted to see how she carried off the twist ( to which the answer is ‘beautifully’, to put it very simply ). All four books were excellent reads and I discovered so much from The Lost Folk in particular. #BookSky
Four books on a table. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, The Lost Folk by Lally Macbeth, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton and A Summer Bird-Cage by Margaret Drabble.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Sunday, the day of rest. Admittedly every day on Planet Cat is a day of rest but even so Beanie likes her Sundays to be especially relaxing.
Beanie, a black and white cat, asleep on a bed with a paw across her face.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Beanie, demonstrating how she plans to spend #Caturday.
Beanie, a black and white cat, rolling about on a garden patio.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
The Lost Folk, by Lally MacBeth. My first read of May was a beauty. I learnt so much from this, from Maiden’s garlands to Kern babies via model villages and Pamela Coleman Smith. Just an absolute delight. Bonus point for the beautiful cover design and artwork. #BookSky
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Books read in April. Lots to admire, from a tour of old churches to a history of Doctor Who via a 1950s seaside hotel and two mind-bending examples of speculative fiction. ‘Feed your head’, as the song goes. Here’s to a similarly impressive May. #BookSky
Six books, including Christopher Priest’s A Dream of Wessex, Exterminate! Regenerate by John Higgs and Church Going by Andrew Ziminski.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Books read in March. The standouts were probably The Dark Flood Rises by Margaret Drabble (never read her before but this was terrific) and the AS Byatt short stories in Medusa’s Ankles (only read half of them so far but I’ll definitely read the rest in April - they’re superb). #BookSky
Five books piled on a table: The Dark Flood Rises by Margaret Drabble, Medusa’s Ankles by AS Byatt, The Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft, Super-Cannes by JG Ballard and The Public Image by Muriel Spark.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
The charity-shop gods were smiling today … #booksky
Four paperbacks bought in charity shops - The Making of Doctor Who, The Razor’s Edge, The Bachelors and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Happy #Caturday. Beanie, taking an afternoon nap earlier today.
Black & white cat sleeping in an armchair.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Priest is so underrated. I’ve read a few of his novels and many of the short stories and they’ve all been terrific. Funnily enough A Dream of Wessex is next up for me! I bought a copy the other day. Can definitely recommend The Affirmation and Airside if you haven’t got around to those as yet.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Books read in February. The House on the Borderland is an old friend - I must have first read it in a battered secondhand copy when I was about fifteen. The Priest volume contains short stories - all good with ‘The Miraculous Cairn’ and ‘The Watched’ being brilliant. #BookSky
Four books read in February, The House in the Borderland, Offshore, The Dream Archipelago and What we can Know.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Five authors by whom I’ve read at least five books Agatha Christie Graham Greene Iris Murdoch Rachel Cusk Thomas Hardy #BookSky
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson. I first read it in my teens (long distant times) and rereading it now it still holds up pretty well. Nothing like a bit of cosmic horror to see one through these grey February days.
The House on the Borderland, by William Hope Hodgson. Recent Penguin Weird Fiction edition.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Books read in January. Quite a productive reading month for me, and reading The Girls of Slender Means after reading Frances Wilson’s biography of Muriel Spark certainly added to my appreciation of the novel.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Possibly my favourite story of all. It looks terrific and it has so many great lines. ‘You know, you’re a classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain’. Also, for brevity, ‘Schumfff!’. Happy days …
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Haha! That was my intention too but I caved in just before Christmas and bought the hardback.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Ha, yes, that’s a bit strange to put it mildly. Sort of guiltily glad to see The Mind of Evil on the list though. One of those episodes that I do rather love. See also 73 Yards. I’m not going to defend some of the others though …
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
That’s a terrific opening paragraph, great analogy and absolutely spot on!
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 11/01/2026
First read of 2026. Such a terrific book, covering Muriel Spark’s path to becoming one of the 20th-Century’s most interesting novelists. Spark is a famously enigmatic figure, but Wilson comes up with some terrific insights into her life. #BookSky
Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark, by Frances Wilson.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
Ludicrously late as ever but here are my favourite reads from 2025. Some old friends in there - Iris Murdoch, Agatha Christie, Rachel Cusk - but plenty of authors who were new to me as well. Special mention to the Alan Garner book which is just so thought-provoking. #BookSky
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
TV night, one of Tom Baker’s finest. Beanie, never a cat to blend into the background, has decided to keep me under close supervision just to make sure I don’t get too frightened.
Doctor Who, The Seeds of Doom, on the TV with a black and white cat helpfully sitting on the coffee table.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Figures on the side of the font at St Julian’s Church, Norwich. So evocative, somehow, of distant times.
Two carved figures on the side of a font. Julian’s Church, Norwich.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Beanie, relaxing on this chilly New Year’s Day. An extremely well-read cat …
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Went into town yesterday and bought a few secondhand books in the charity shops. Particularly happy with The Bell. I’ve got a first edition but those old Penguin copies of Murdoch’s novels with the orange spines are lovely. Good design, good quality paper. Couldn’t resist …
Five books: Maigret’s Holiday, The Bell, Monsignor Quixote, Cat’s Cradle and According to Mark.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
A bit of December colour on this morning’s walk.
Bushes with orange and red berries amidst the green foliage.A river, with a single swan. Bare trees in the background, fallen leaves in the foreground.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Beanie, feeling quite relaxed on this grey and damp #Caturday
Black and white cat, relaxing on a bed with all four paws in the air.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Yes! Well spotted. It’s a little framed print that I’ve had for years.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
Books read in October, all of which I really enjoyed. As a side note the Alan Garner book contains a chapter called ‘The Valley of the Demon’ which is hands down one of the most unsettling (in a good way) things I have ever read. #BookSky
Selection of five books including Powsels and Thrums by Alan Garner.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
It’s the Season 13 story I’ve seen the fewest times, which is telling. Salamar (Prentis Hancock) is a painful to watch one-note ball of lunacy but otherwise it has its moments. Baker and Sladen are great (but then they always are) and it looks pretty good. You can’t beat a 1970s BBC studio jungle.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Oh, gosh, that brings back memories … I graduated 35 years ago and at the time the ‘d’ in ‘good’ was disappearing making the sentence a rather curious ‘Ah Goo the Sea’. I’m impressed it’s still there. It’s reassuring somehow…
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Best season of Doctor Who ever? It has to be right up there. I watched the documentary on Ian Marter last night and was really quite moved by it. Beautifully put together and with plenty of insight but it’s incredibly poignant. #DoctorWho
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
Probably my favourite Hammer film, and certainly the one I’ve seen the greatest number of times. Barbara Shelley rather steals the show (understandably, as she’s terrific in this) but I’ve always had a soft spot for Suzan Farmer. The cute, likeable blonde amidst all the swirling Gothic chaos …
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Books read in September. All terrific, and there isn’t one title here that I wouldn’t highly recommend, but Rhine Journey might be the standout. Beautifully written, very subtle and very perceptive. Great to see it back in print. #BookSky
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Probably my favourite Hammer film and I must have watched it a dozen times over the years. It’s so stylish, and Lee is superb, but for me it’s Barbara Shelley and Suzan Farmer who really steal the show. They’re both pitch perfect and they work so incredibly well together.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
Eric Ravilious jigsaw puzzle completed. Great fun to do with the woodwork being easy to complete, the upholstery being difficult and the landscape being somewhere in the middle. Such a beautiful, evocative painting.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Books read in August. It was a quiet reading month but these were all great. Bonus points for the two Maigret novels on the grounds that the cover designs are so beautiful. #BookSky
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Went to see the Ithell Colquhoun show at the Tate but the same ticket gets you into the Edward Burra show as well. Quite a bonus! Loved his paintings of Jazz Age America. Also appreciated the way the exhibition highlighted Burra’s taste in music and literature and how that shaped his art.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
Loved the Ithell Colquhoun show down at Tate Britain. Particularly enjoyed her paintings inspired by the Cornish landscape - a mix of stone circles and folklore viewed through a veil of magic and surrealism. It’s so good to see her work being brought to a new audience.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
Beanie, demonstrating the correct way to spend a damp and windy #caturday .
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
The Time Monster is actually rather wonderful. Certainly in the Top 5 Pertwee stories and I say that as a Pertwee fan.
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Charity shop finds from Friday. Some childhood memories in here in that I loved The Three Investigators books as a kid and I remember really enjoying the Ellery Queen TV series back in the day. Happy times …
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Greg Buzwell @gregbuzwell.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Ah, that’s really interesting … I’ve read about seven of her books and I’ve loved them all, but A View of the Harbour was the first one I read and it remains my favourite. How curious …
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