Terrific piece. Even better if read alongside a first listen to Meshell Ndegeocello's No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, which is also terrific.

Weird to get home, turn on the telly & the news on the hour is a live broadcast from a demo you've just left. A safe-feeling low key stand off between a small far right contingent & many more #HopeNotHate demonstrators, with a few speeches. Great to see so many old friends there.

Bye and Bye (formerly Gallery 47) opening for Love Rescue Rooms this evening.

Sweet guitar from legend Johnny Echols Rescue Rooms Johnny Echols + my Love fanpal Tina Sweet how Tina and I each got onstage shout-outs at last night's gig. Here's a link to Bye & Bye doing a song I wrote the lyrics for, 'Change in the Weather'. youtu.be/OS1-7Mr90nY

Hello — a fundraiser/book drive has been started today to help replace the books & repair shelving destroyed during last night’s attack on the Spellow Lane library in Liverpool. Details here in case you’d like to give/share on: gofund.me/d024718f

Cool Luke Kennard essay on the great poet Roy Fisher linked below. An excuse for me to link to this 2017 blog, too, with a nod Ian McMillan 'Roy Fisher 1930-2017: a tribute & film of his last reading'. davidbelbin.com/blog/2017/03/r…

Cracking cast Q&A at ⁦Broadway Cinema⁩ after a preview of #Sherwood season 2 with writer ⁦James Graham⁩ who put lots of tantalising plates in the air. Many scenes set in #Nottingham this time. Next three Sundays/Monday evenings on the BBC. Great stuff.

Loved the Roy Fisher exhibition at Sheffield University's Western Bank Library. Splendidly curated with rare books, texts, photos & Roy's collaborations with artists + tapes of Roy reading/playing. All that & his famous toilet. Free: open all week S102TN Ian McMillan Cliff Yates

Found myself rereading this fine Cory Leadbetter piece about Joan Didion from earlier in the week. Particularly taken by the powerful paragraph below, which speaks to my recent circumstances. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

12 years after it was published, I discover that Amazon published the original cover and title for my favourite of the Bone and Cane novels, What You Don't Know. Can't recall having seen this cover before. Market research found the title put off readers who didn't know the song.

An astute obituary which covers Sven's brief spell at Notts County FC well. At the start of this period I happed to be speaking at a Nottingham Playhouse press launch. Imagine my surprise when County's new manager slid into the front row. He'd been invited so came. No fuss. Class. RIP.

Tour announcement 🚨 I'm so excited to get back on the road with my Homeland Band, touring the UK & Belgium this autumn. These are going to be very special shows with some totally amazing musicians from Senegal. Head to my website to book your tickets now. See you there

Got caught out by this on my debut, The Foggiest. Got away with it in 90. When it was reissued, Scholastic decided to apply for the rights. R.E.M. had a no quote policy. Gershwin estate wanted £325 for four lines. I replaced both with artful (I hope) paraphrases. Lesson learned.

Good piece about wider access to the Arts, part of an interview with Tinuke Craig, whose Headlong adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's 'A Raisin in the Sun' I look forward to seeing Nottingham Playhouse in November. theguardian.com/stage/article/…

Not again! International Times has resurrected the late, great Neil Kulkarni's 2017 rant about why he hates Oasis so much (and Nigel Farage loves them). Well worth following this link to read it all, then maybe visit Neil's Substack to support his family. internationaltimes.it/oasis-not-agai…

The Third Cat. Decent Financial Times piece on the genesis of the film by Carol Reed & Graham Greene. Didn't know the bits about Noel Coward or the cats, though perhaps if I'd been on the recentish Graham Greene Birthplace Trust tour of Vienna, I would have done. Paywall free link: on.ft.com/3ANZhNz

There is a thorough, interesting piece, with original research, on the genesis of The Third Man & its different print versions, in the August issue of Graham Greene Birthplace Trust newsletter by Judith Adamson & Philip Stratford. Details on how to join & subscribe here: grahamgreenebt.org

Not so Invisible Man. What a treat to see Elvis Costello sing about Harry Houdini in Leeds Varieties, a lovely venue where Harry performed. Splendid intimate show. My Highlights: When I Was Cruel, New Amsterdam, Motel Matches & Jimmy Standing in the Rain. Plus ten more deep cuts.

Scorching, sublime set by Mdou Moctar tonight. My second consecutive night at an iconic Leeds venue Brudenell Presents great to see him again, up close. What a guitarist, what a band.

School Shootings #guns