NEW POETRY

The Wreath of Silence by Joshua Alan Sturgill

Audubon Bird Calendar 2023 by Benjamin Rozonoyer

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

A Drive Through Belfast: For in Belfast a nut is not a young gentleman of extreme fashion. It is a bit of metal punched out of the ship’s plates in the rivetting process, and as another Belfast enthusiast told me, “it has nice jagged edges.” And these nuts are used, with the stone kidneys, in the expression of one’s political and religious opinions; which means in Belfast pelting the police.

BOOKS AROUND MACHEN

Dale Nelson takes issue with Arthur Machen’s opinion of Charlotte Yonge’s The Daisy Chain.

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

Belfast’s View of Home Rule: “But it’s no good saying that things are going on just as they are in Ireland: something has got to be done. Only, the North is not going to pay for the fun of the South; that’s all. The Belfast man has a profound and stubborn belief in himself and his city and his fellows.”

NEW POETRY

The Image by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

In Belfast To-Day: And then there were sudden silences; a man might be speaking his mind freely, when he would catch a certain hint of caution in his friend’s eyes, and would lower his voice or say no more. Someone was present who did not possess the masonic countersign.

—wrote Arthur Machen on January 2, 1927. Yes, the retailers have jettisoned their facade of joy and the radio stations have stopped playing seasonal songs, but it is still Christmas. The Festival has just begun. The Incarnation never ends.

Away from the Shop: All orders received between December 23 and January 1 will be processed and shipped after the New Year. Merry Christmas!

NEW POETRY

The Appearance of Wisdom by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

The Joy of the Circus: Has the circus quite vanished from the English highway and the country fair and the waste place and the village green?

Away from the Shop: All orders received between December 23 and January 1 will be processed and shipped after the New Year. Merry Christmas!

Following a tradition of Yuletide ghost stories, we offer a great tale for the season: A Light in the Dormitory by W. J. Wintle

NEW POETRY

New Delhi, 1958. Page 105 by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

The Child in Fairyland: For we must consider that to the child, and more especially to the poor child who dwells amidst hard and unlovely circumstances and surroundings, a doll is the figure on which its owner drapes all the garments of fantasy.

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT

“Butler’s poems are thoughtful, well-crafted, and a pleasure to read.” — A.M. Juster

Darkly Bright Press is pleased to announce The Living Law, the first poetry collection from Jesse Keith Butler. Butler is an awarding-winning poet from Canada.

The book is scheduled for an early 2024 release. However, his work can be explored here.

NEW POETRY

Home by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

A Pecksniff Picture: The scene is illustrated by a picture showing Miss Pecksniff and Moddle on one side of the shop and Tom Pinch and his sister Ruth on the other. And I have always been puzzled by one of the inscriptions over the shop, which describes the proprietor as an “Upholder.”

BOOK UPDATE: WHAT DO WE KNOW? BY ARTHUR MACHEN – SOLD OUT

Douglas A. Anderson, the editor of Tales Before Tolkien and The Annotated Hobbit, has reviewed Mist and Mystery.

Jesse Keith Butler recently appeared on a podcast to speak about poetry and his upcoming volume from Darkly Bright Press.

NEW POETRY

The Self of the Myth-Made Man by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

A Recipe for the Historical Novel: Consider the purpose of the novel or romance called historical. Surely it is simply this: to give the reader the most vivid impression of the old times; to ravish him by a potent literary spell from the present into the past; to make him feel, if but for a moment, that the heavy weight of the centuries has been rolled away.

As of this posting, only three copies remain of the limited edition of What Do We Know? by Arthur Machen. The discounted preorder price has been extended through December 6^th.

NEW POETRY

A Metaphor by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

How Should We Spend Christmas?: Let us above all be unlike that wretched “Board of Guardians”—Guardians of the Poor, so strangely named—who cut off, or threatened to cut off the breakfast egg of the Workhouse children on Christmas Day last year, to help the children, as they said, to realise the gravity of the situation. By all means let us conceal the gravity of the situation from the children; we are no flaming angels to shut out little Adam and little Eve from Paradise.

MACHEN MISCELLANEA

Tripe de Luxe & Arthur Machen

A small number copies remain of the new limited edition book from Darkly Bright Press: What do We Know? Observations of the Strange and Unusual by Arthur Machen.

Purchase Now

Excerpts

NEW POETRY

The Master by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

Are We Too Busy To Think: And so we get to the full meaning of the problem proposed: Are we too much occupied in wage-earning or in amusing ourselves to devote sufficient time to sublime speculation and systematic thought?

Darkly Bright Press is pleased to present a new collection of rare material from the Apostle of Wonder: What Do We Know? Observations of the Strange and Unusual by Arthur Machen. The limited edition is now available for preorder at a discounted rate: Purchase the Book.

For the Curious Reader, we offer some excerpts: The More Mysteries the Better.

NEW POETRY

Lifted by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

My Country Lane and My Critics: So it seems to me that if we are to go logically; then, logically, we go to nothing in particular. Our journey by the most level, ordered, unadventurous highway becomes as purposeless as the laziest wandering along the wandering, shady lane. With this difference; that the latter progress is pleasant and delightful, while the former is disagreeable and detestable.