Poetry
One of my Pupils
by Guy Walker In Memoriam _________ __________ (Died in Syria aged 20 in 2014) Our city empty of you, absence your sole parting gift. Familial fabric rent and only threads left. In year eight [… read more ]
Month: April 2015
Culture
Keeping the Dream Alive: LGBT Pride Returns to Portsmouth
Sarah Cheverton meets Dave Lee-Baxtable and finds out how a small group of local people came together to bring LGBT Pride back to Portsmouth after more than fifteen years. I meet Dave Lee-Baxtable in a [… read more ]
Culture
Portsmouth: an English Venice?
Guy Walker imagines the future of Portsmouth if the city modelled itself on Venice. A flat, wide lagoon reflects dazzling light. The saline waters seem still, almost stagnant. A smudge on the distant skyline shimmers [… read more ]
Social Issues
Their Pea, Her Pod: Surrogate Parenting in Portsmouth
Local mother and writer Sue Roome investigates the issue of surrogacy in light of recent reforms that allow surrogate parents to take adoption leave and pay for up to 52 weeks, providing they obtain a [… read more ]
History
A Cleaner’s Diary Part II
In this second excerpt from his book Read Rees, Gareth Rees relates the daily challenges of cleaning out HM Naval Base, Portsmouth. Having written a letter to protest ‘village fascism masquerading as robust management’, Gareth is dreading [… read more ]
Culture
Why I Left The Galleon
Kinnan Zaloom recently stepped down as an editor of The Galleon, Portsmouth University’s student newspaper. In this provocative and revealing op-ed, he recalls the troubling events that led him to his decision. I’ve always hated [… read more ]
Fiction
The Blue Plaques Blue Army Gang
By Jon Crout 11 June 1974 ‘Do you think this film they’re making is named after me?’ asked Owen. He grinned. ‘Not likely, Tommy,’ said Holbrook, licking his ice cream. ‘I doubt architecture is really [… read more ]
Politics
Arts in Schools
Veteran educator Dr Dave Allen recalls the thrilling moment when he introduced the radical new discipline of media studies to his Portsmouth school – and the rearguard action against it. Almost exactly thirty years ago, as Easter [… read more ]
History
View From a Hill
In this intriguing work of psychogeography, Christine Lawrence explores both the historical significance of Portsdown Hill and its personal meaning to her life. One of my favourite places in Portsmouth is not actually in the city [… read more ]
Politics
Book Review: Who Killed My Son? by Christine Lord
Tom Sykes reviews the true story of fellow journalist Christine Lord’s terrifying and tragic ordeal, the loss of her son Andrew, diagnosed with variant CJD, or human BSE. Losing a child is every mother’s worst [… read more ]