War in Ukraine

The Bread and Roses Poetry Award 2022

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Top Gun - Maverick: expelled from the bowels of the Military-Entertainment Complex

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Culture for All: Why Choirs Matter

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Land of Change: Stories of Struggle and Solidarity from Wales

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Culture for All: Why Religion Matters

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Monday, 04 July 2022 03:09

In solidarity with the people of Ukraine

Published in Poetry

Below is a free downloadable pdf containing 8 bilingual tankas in Irish and English by Gabriel Rosenstock, in response to various paintings. Above: A Frozen Scene Outside Kyiv (1908).by the Jewish-Ukrainian artist Abraham Manievich.

News

Round Up
We've uploaded a brilliant series of short films called Culture for All about a range of cultural topics — art, literature, sport, religion, the media etc., made with the support of the Communication Workers Union. Thank you, posties! You will find the films in the relevant sections of the menu above. There's also a callout for the sixth Bread and Roses Poetry Award — see the Poetry section. We have no sponsor this year, and we want to keep it free to enter, so a donation to defray costs would be gratefully received, if you can afford it — see the Support page.

Arts hub

The Clowns, The Crooks, The Cranks, The Chancers, The Careerists, The Charlatans and the Refugee Poetry
Written by Martin Rowson

The Clowns, The Crooks, The Cranks, The Chancers, The Careerists, The Charlatans and the Refugee by Martin Rowson (who also drew the image above) Once the clowns, the class clowns all the other kids now shrank back from in Earth-swallowing embarrassment, playpenned my country and trashed it for a laugh…
Two Kinds of God Poetry
Written by Fred Voss

Two Kinds of God by Fred Voss, with image by Martin Gollan 5 people in robeshave done the work of Godno lightning boltsno earthquakesno Moses parting the Red Seano Jesus rising from the gravejust 5 votesby people who brush their teethand wipe their assand have opinions5 people in robeswho have…
Apocryphal Idols Poetry
Written by Cheryl Vail

Apocryphal Idols by Cheryl Vail, with image above by Martin Gollan Liberty’s a goddess yet how can she embody her name when she isn’t permitted to be as she is when her own choices are sand through a sieve held in someone else’s hands she isn’t an automaton that prefix…
ranting righties rap Poetry
Written by Tom Hubbard

ranting righties rap by tom hubbard god save Americaa mer i CA save god forty fifth prezlet us now loudly hollerland of the gun and dollarprivate wealth public squalor* our bible sez we’re gonna git away with it ladies and gennlemenlet us bomb yemenwe’ll fake pious painover ukrainesend darkskins to…
The working class liberates itself: Review of 'Joe Stafford: A Tale of Revolution', by Charles Andrews. Fiction
Written by Jenny Farrell

When is the last time you read an exciting story about the working class engaged in determined and successful struggle? This is just what Charles Andrews sets out to do in his newly published novelette Joe Stafford: A Tale of Revolution. Not only is the working class largely excluded from…
Declarations of Love Poetry
Written by Culture Matters

This collection of beautifully illustrated love poems ranges from protesting the inequities and cruelties of our fragmenting world to delight in the variety and beauty of creation, and from a fierce compassion for the 'cry of the poor' to tender recollections of family and friends. These poems evince a radical…
To the Lukewarm Poetry
Written by Chris Norris

To the Lukewarm 'So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth'.- Revelation 3:16 by Christopher Norris, with image by Martin Gollan Let hate, like love, burn steady, fierce and clean.No time for cooling passions – keep your flameTurned up, spot…
Meet Juan Guaidó: Capra’s Depression-Era Comedy Rerun as Imperial Farce Films
Written by Dennis Broe

In 1941, Frank Capra directed Meet John Doe, the last of his Depression-era populist trilogy, extolling the virtues of the common man and woman. In this film Gary Cooper, a down-on-his-luck hobo gets chosen by a newspaper magnate as the ultimate symbol of an America still ravaged by the economic…

Culture hub

How to Organise a Union: 'The Porter' and Black Service Industry Militancy TV, internet and other media
Written by Dennis Broe

There is a contemporary wave of union organising and militancy in the digital and service industries in reaction to crippling inflation. Price rises are double that of any rise in wages, there is a loss of participation in workplace decisions combined with increased algorithmic control where even bathroom breaks are…
Read, relate, revolt! Books to brighten up a summer of sport Sport
Written by Mark Perryman

Mark Perryman finds a heap of sports books to provide a summer's worth of sporting hope, healthy goodness, and reasons to rebel For all the rising tide of industrial militancy having the making of a long, hot summer, July and August for many will be about Wimbledon, the British Grand…
Tackling the neoliberal, capitalist culture of Scotland: Review of 'A New Scotland: Building an equal, fair and sustainable society' Cultural Commentary
Written by Jim Aitken

This book, edited by Gregor Gall, is both a timely and ambitious work that seeks to take Scotland further forward along the road to self-determination. It is timely because it matches rather well Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announcing recently that she plans to hold a second independence referendum later…
Plains, Trains and Automobiles: Snowpiercer’s People’s Transport vs. Lincoln Lawyer’s Luxuriating While the Planet Burns TV, internet and other media
Written by Dennis Broe

Dennis Broe compares and contrasts Snowpiercer with The Lincoln Lawyer, from which the above example of product placement is taken Planes, Trains and Automobiles was the title of John Hughes’ 1987 film where a mismatched duo, the sloppy salesman John Candy and the in-his-mind dapper executive Steve Martin travel across…
Despair and the Fading Middle Class in American TV series TV, internet and other media
Written by Dennis Broe

Dennis Broe looks at how Better Call Saul expresses the waning power of the American empire. Image above: Better Call Saul’s narcissistic but clever lawyer Better Call Saul is part of the Breaking Bad “universe,” as a prequel to that series. As such it also links to successors to that…
Why Culture Matters Cultural Commentary
Written by Culture Matters

Our final video in our 'Culture for All' series of short films, sponsored by the CWU, features Professor Selina Todd talking about why culture matters. Why Culture Matters by Professor Selina Todd In 2021 I published a history of social mobility: Snakes and Ladders: the Great British Social Mobility Myth.…
Culture for All: Why Digital Culture Matters TV, internet and other media
Written by Culture Matters

As part of the Culture for All series, supported by the Communication Workers Union, we're proud to present a short film about why digital culture matters, by Adam Stoneman. Why Digital Culture Matters by Adam Stoneman During the Covid-19 pandemic, with cultural venues closed, the internet was a portal to…
Culture for All: Why Videogames Matter Science & Technology
Written by Culture Matters

As part of the Culture for All series, supported by the Communication Workers Union, we're proud to present a short film about why videogames matter, by Ben Cowles. Why Videogames Matter by Ben Cowles I've been playing video games for as far back as I can remember. Some of my…