Blair MahoneyinI like to watch… ShakespeareFarewell to Falstaff: Henry IV, Part TwoIn my instalment on Henry IV, Part One, I claimed that it “is Shakespeare’s most perfectly constructed play.” What to make, then, of this…13 min read·Apr 11, 2023----
Blair MahoneyThe MHS World Cup of Literature 2022: Round 1 Match — Belarus v SpainIt’s time for another instalment of the MHS World Cup of Literature, which I last ran in 2020. This year, I have fifteen students in my…7 min read·Jul 25, 2022----
Blair MahoneyWhat I’ve been reading in 2022It’s (just over) half way through the year, so it’s a good chance to take stock of what I’ve been reading and what the highlights have been…12 min read·Jul 10, 2022----
Blair MahoneyWriting for Wikipedia: a collaborative task for Year 9 English studentsI’ve long been a fan of Wikipedia, which is almost certainly ‘the last best place on the Internet.’ I’m also a big believer in giving…70 min read·Jun 14, 2022--1--1
Blair MahoneyinI like to watch… ShakespeareFalstaff as fail-safe: The Merry Wives of WindsorThere is a legend that has grown around this play that Queen Elizabeth was so taken with the character of Falstaff in Henry IV, Part One…7 min read·Dec 29, 2021----
Blair MahoneyThe alien world: searching for ‘living space’The law of life is movement. The circumscribed dies. Exodus is as necessary anywhere there is life, as ingress. We were the only British…14 min read·Aug 22, 2021--1--1
Blair MahoneyCommencing countdown, engines onApparently, for astronauts re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere in a Soyuz space capsule after a stay on the International Space Station, the…7 min read·Aug 10, 2021----
Blair MahoneyinI like to watch… ShakespeareHeir-raising exploits: Henry IV, Part OneOkay, let’s get the bold claim out there: this is Shakespeare’s most perfectly constructed play. Is it his best play? Not necessarily…30 min read·Jul 8, 2021--1--1
Blair MahoneyinExploring EkphrasisEkphrastic wanderingsFor a number of years I’ve asked my students to write poems inspired by artworks. My initial incursions in this area came from my…5 min read·Mar 17, 2021----
Blair MahoneyRe-membering the Past: The Phallic Afterlife of The 1,001 NightsI’d like to say a few words about the penis. I realise that it may not seem like the most polite way to start an article (or a…17 min read·Dec 20, 2020--1--1