Readings from the Pavilion End

Advent Calendar: Rebecca, Who Slammed Doors for Fun and Perished Miserably by Hilaire Belloc

This one is for the kids, naughty and nice: a cautionary tale about a little girl who will not be receiving presents this Christmas. Find the poem here. 
You might also enjoy Season 2 Episode 7. 
Intro music: Santa's Lunchhour, DeeYanKey, Free Music Archives

Advent Calendar: A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

Today, a vivid portrayal of Christmas around a sea-town corner in Wales by Dylan Thomas. Emerging from an earlier piece written for BBC Radio in 1952, the work recalls Christmas from the perspective of a young boy. Here in busy Singapore, it is Sunday, a good day to savour this scene from long ago and far away. Find the text here. 
Intro music: HolyNight Lo-fi, Hozlina (FreeMusicArchives)

Advent Calendar: Mistletoe by Walter De La Mare

Today's poem is dreamy and romantic, for Anita, whose birthday was celebrated yesterday on 5 December. Find the full poem here. 
Intro music: Holizna Holy Night Lo-fi (Free Music Archive)

Advent Calendar: [little tree] by e e cummings

Today's poem was published in January 1920, one of e e cummings' earliest published works. As with many of cummings' poetry, it is best visualised on a page to appreciate its playful and deceptively simple construction. Take a look and find a commentary here. 
P.S. Spread the cheer, share this with your friends!
Intro: Santa's Lunch hour (Dee Yan-Key, Free Music Archive)

Advent Calendar: The Christmas Life by Wendy Cope

Count down to Christmas with an Advent calendar of readings. Today's poem is by Wendy Cope, after a child said, "If you don't have a real tree, you don't bring the Christmas life into the house." Hear Cope's narration here.
P.S. We don't all have the luxury of a real tree, but this podcast is free so share it with your friends!
Intro: Santa's Lunch hour (Dee Yan-Key, Free Music Archive)

S3 Ep 1: A Conversation with Nirgunan Tiruchelvam: Who was the greater bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan or Shane Warne?

Today's conversation is with the esteemed Nirgunan Tiruchelvam discussing the merits of two of the greatest spin bowlers of all-time, Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia's Shane Warne.
Read also 'Clash of the Titans' on the blog. 

S2 Ep 7: Charles Augustus Fortescue by Hilaire Belloc

Today is Monday, where some might begin with fresh resolve to start the week doing things right. We might take inspiration from the subject of today's poem, Charles Augustus Fortescue. Mutton fat for supper, anyone? Carpe diem cras – seize the day tomorrow. 
Find the poem here. 

S2 Ep 6: Joe Root: England’s Greatest Batter?

In this episode, Bill writes from the Pavilion End. Listen to his case for why Joe Root might just be England's greatest batter. Find the full essay on the blog: https://billpavilionend.com/joe-root-englands-greatest-batter/

S2 Ep 5: Fifteen Million Plastic Bags by Adrian Mitchell

Mitchell was a journalist, playwright and protest poet committed to Nuclear Disarmament. The subject of this poem are the vast reserves of body bags stored up in anticipation during the Cold War for millions of fatalities. Angela Carter described him, a “joyous, acrid and demotic tumbling lyricist Pied Piper determinedly singing us away from catastrophe.”
Find the poem here. 

S2 Ep 4: To Autumn by John Keats

This sensuous poem is the final work in Keats's '1819 odesto' - recall the Nightingale from Season 1, Episode 5. The abundance of autumnal harvests is set against an undercurrent of unease and transience. Notice how the florid descriptions of nature is set against the formal rhetoric associated with odes.This also poem marks the poet's own autumn as he succumbed to tuberculosis in 1821 at just 25.