A S H Smyth › Will write for money

Skip to content

Epitaph for Whitman

Thursday, March 29, 2012

…………Here lies a man
who sucked all the marrow out of life
………………..–
…even if (as is so often true)
…he probably should not have.

Filed in Poetry | Tagged epitaph, Poetry, Whitman | Comments (0)

theASHtray, vol.8

Saturday, March 24, 2012

This week starring Stanley Donwood, Radiohead, Vincent Van Gogh, The Wind-Up Merchant, Ric Jerrom, Oscar Wilde, Tony Hawks, Ireland, fridges, Guinness, extras, Tom Crean, Antarctic exploration, Felicity Aston, product placement, Land Rovers, Mark Ronson, Newsnight, the Olympics, Michaelangelo, and an infantile joke about muff-diving.

—
For theartsdesk

Filed in column, Journalism | Tagged extras, Felicity Aston, fridges, Guinness, Ireland, Land Rover, Mark Ronson, Michaelangelo, Newsnight, Olympics, Oscar Wilde, Radiohead, Ric Jerrom, Stanley Donwood, the Antarctic, The Wind-Up Merchant, theartsdesk, Tom Crean, Tony Hawks, Vincent Van Gogh | Comments (0)

After Miss Julie

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Patrick Marber’s post-war update of Strindberg’s (regular) Miss Julie, reviewed.

—
For theartsdesk

Filed in Journalism, review | Tagged Patrick Marber, Strindberg, theartsdesk, theatre, Young Vic | Comments (0)

Pleasure

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The brisk humiliation of a girl who hits on you, whom you had once hit on and were rejected.

Filed in Non-fictions | Tagged men, micro-non-fiction, women | Comments (0)

Golding the lily

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Review of Arena’s The Dreams of William Golding.

—
For theartsdesk

Filed in Journalism, review | Tagged education, JG Ballard, John Carey, John Gray, literature, Nigel Williams, Nobel Prize for Literature, religion, theartsdesk, TV, William Golding | Comments (0)

theASHtray, vol.7

Saturday, March 17, 2012

From the arts desk at the end of the universe, reflections on Douglas Adams, Erwin Schrödinger, Joseph Kony, YouTube, Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry, Bilbo Baggins, Saul Zaentz, trademark and copyright law, Lewis Hyde, Amy Winehouse, Florence Welch, Queens of the Stone Age, MUSE, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, and the many and various meanings of Liff.

—
For theartsdesk

Filed in column, Journalism | Tagged Africa, Amy Winehouse, Bilbo Baggins, comedy, Douglas Adams, Erwin Schrödinger, film, Florence Welch, Ian McKellen, Joseph Kony, law, Lewis Hyde, literature, MUSE, music, Pierce Brosnan, Queens of the Stone Age, Saul Zaentz, Spotify, Stellan Skarsgård, Stephen Fry, theartsdesk, YouTube | Comments (0)

Poetry exercises: 2

Friday, March 16, 2012

Valéry: a literal translation

A
poem
is
never
finished;
it
is
only

Filed in Poetry | Tagged Paul Valéry, Poetry | Comments (0)

A poet’s room (after Oppen)

Friday, March 16, 2012

A poet’s room, these days,
is probably his girlfriend’s,
or an upstairs corner of his mother’s house

– unless, with luck, he’s made it big,
or, being smart, just married into money.

Filed in Poetry | Tagged girlfriends, money, mothers, Poetry, writing | Comments (0)

Why Peter Ackroyd publishes more than me

Friday, March 16, 2012

Her argument

Peter Ackroyd is a genius.
Peter Ackroyd is a workaholic.
Peter Ackroyd is a Brilliant Man.

My argument

Peter Ackroyd doesn’t have a girlfriend.

Filed in Fictions | Tagged girlfriends, micro-fiction, Peter Ackroyd, writing | Comments (0)

A difficulty (The End)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

She said she didn’t want to be with someone else.

But the one she wanted to be with wasn’t me.

Filed in Fictions | Tagged micro-fiction, relationships | Comments (0)