Julian Hanna
@julianisland
Prof of Culture Stuff. Author of Island (Bloomsbury) & The Manifesto Handbook (Zer0). Supposedly Irish, mistaken for British, spiritually Portuguese, trying to be Dutch, most likely Canadian.
Everything here is reminding me of Madeira, which I haven’t returned to since leaving during the pandemic. I wrote about contemplating death in the foreigners’ cemetery in Funchal in ISLAND - here’s the uplifting ending :)
And finally, Graves’ grave. In the tiny graveyard by the church at the top of the village, very diy like many of the gravestones 🖤
Further reading. Graves wrote in 1953: ‘Once a year we go to England [this habit would soon be abandoned] … to greet friends, relatives and publishers; to buy books … and to compare this year’s England with the last. Every visit makes me feel more relieved that I listened to Gertrude Stein.’
Riding and Graves left Deià when the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. They moved to the US where Riding lived until her death in 1991; Graves returned to the island in 1946 and lived there until his death in 1985 (both aged 90)
I’m supposed to be doing nothing on this holiday, so I’ll wrap it up with the real literary bits - Graves and Riding’s respective studies
The house! With some nice little dog statuettes to greet us … and - ooh look, an AGA range!
We should go inside the house … but first you must see the GROTTO! Apparently friends and family performed an annual birthday play for Robert Graves … I suspect lots of other things went on there too
But wait! Have you seen Robert Graves and Laura Riding’s peppers? 👀 🫑🫑
Literary pilgrimage - island edition! Robert Graves and Laura Riding’s house in Deià, Mallorca, a 🧵
Doing one of my favourite things that I very rarely get to do, which is nothing
My kid is showing his final graduation film tomorrow and he got his mum to make the poster ❤️
The Cape Verde chapter ends with my first attempt at Portuguese to English translation, a poem by Amílcar Cabral
Cape Verde and Ireland, serendipitously united in the World Cup, each have their own chapter in ISLAND. I recommend picking it up along with Mark Yakich’s brilliant FOOTBALL for a bit of summer reading :) #WorldCup #CapeVerde #objectlessons @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social
A reminder that ISLAND is an ideal summer book! Perfectly pocket-sized, keeps you cool on hot days 😎🏝️
#nowplaying I love how they buried the title track at the end of the first side like they didn’t even care it was one of the most transcendent pop songs ever written
Cat people of Bluesky: does your cat let you bathe her? (Cooling off just now in the garden)