AN ARTHUR MACHEN CALENDAR

On Valentines and Other Things: I think some substitute should be found for the vanished Valentine and its observances. Suppose we made February 14 a day on which we could do what we liked—of course without malice or injury to our neighbours. Suppose we made a regular wild day of it, and insisted on buying chocolate creams—and why not bullseyes?—at 8.15 p.m.; on having another glass of small beer after ten, on buying cigarettes openly at eleven.

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

The Piper: “My effort has always been to preserve what is good in the old traditions and to blend them with the more modern, natural method. I found when I became a manager that the old ways had crystallised into a kind of ritual—into a formula; while, on the other hand, the ‘natural’ people seemed to have forgotten that Shakespeare wrote poetry.

BOOKS AROUND MACHEN

Religio Poetae, Part 2: Dale Nelson continues his investigation into the spiritual legacy of Coventry Patmore and his influence upon Arthur Machen.

NEW POETRY

Hypothermia by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

The Problem of Tom: Now Tom, of course, had not learnt Latin and Greek; he had pretended to learn those languages, and his master had pretended had pretended to teach him. But if Tom had learnt Latin to such purpose … it would still have profited him nothing with that Canadian bank manager. But it must clearly be stated that a classical education is not to be blamed because it does not fit a man to earn his living by being a bank clerk.

NEW POETRY

Every and No by Joshua Alan Sturgill

Groundhog Day by Linda Lobmeyer

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

The Craving to Scream: We had just rushed down the water-chute at Earl’s Court together—I have seldom experienced a more disagreeable sensation—and drew my attention to the screams and shrieks which rent the air as the boats swept down that horrible descent and struck the water with a sickening bang.

BOOKS AROUND MACHEN

Dale Nelson begins an in-depth exploration of Coventry Patomore’s Religio Poetae and its influence upon Arthur Machen: “Numerous Machen readers seek traces of the Golden Dawn, which Machen outgrew and repeatedly disparaged, but evidently don’t read Patmore, whose works received Machen’s mature, forthright approval, expressed publicly and privately.”

NEW POETRY

New by Joshua Alan Sturgill

THE WEEKLY MACHEN

An Irish Leader of Yesterday: “Home Rule, depend upon it, is not far off. It will be granted with the consent of the Conservative party, with the general good will of England.” … I pointed out that Mr. Gladstone had gone to the country demanding a majority against the combined forces of Ireland and Conservatism. He failed to obtain it, and became a Home Ruler.

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.”