Mathew Lyons

The flower of the poem: this is London Pride (Saxifraga x urbium), also known as "St Patrick's cabbage" and "Look up and kiss me"... currently blooming in @badlilies.bsky.social ☘️🥬💮💋

Feeling that, by 2027, you might have heard enough about the Normans? This exhibition looks amazing and so timely after all the Bayeux Tapestry buzz. An opportunity to rediscover the rich and fascinating culture of early medieval England.

We‘ve been watching these over the last few nights, SP for the first time. I didn’t know that Guinness tried to quit TTSS early in filming and suggested Arthur Lowe as a replacement.

Some lovely lunchtime reading for you! Fans of Elizabeth David – and murder mysteries – look away…

This morning’s guest on the Writer’s Bookshelf is the great @carolynboyd.bsky.social. I’m a massive fan of her book Amuse Bouche – a really lovely blend of French travel, food and food culture. mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-writer...

If you’re not aware of the frankly bizarre — but in its own way, poetic — online afterlife of WH Auden’s “Night Mail”, I wrote an explainer

The latest edition of the Writer's Bookshelf, featuring the wonderful Jem Bloomfield, is a treat. mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-writer...

OUT NOW: Issue twenty-five: 'The Erratics' badlilies.uk/issue-twenty-five

Chris Wickham, remembered fondly, appreciated finely.

"In the converted ballroom that then housed his library, he stomped all over my poems like Gene Kelly in combat boots." Beautiful tributes to Douglas Dunn - who would've been 84 today - from @dharmabam.bsky.social, @nemoloris.bsky.social, Greenlaw, Muldoon, Hofmann, Armitage, &c.

I've reviewed DJ Taylor's new book on Tolkien for @thespectator1828.bsky.social .If the estate ever has the sense to commission a proper authorised biography, it should ask him to do it. spectator.com/article/the-...

Memories of, and tributes to, Douglas Dunn from many poets, including @kathleenjamie.bsky.social @georgeszirtes.bsky.social @paintedspoken.bsky.social @kathryngray.bsky.social @betarish.bsky.social 💜

Between Silk and Cyanide is a wonderful book! I read it over and over at one point.

If closing surely the least expensive radio channel the BBC has (run by a tiny number of people, broadcasting the work of mainly dead people), bothers you, then why not sign this petition you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

On 25 October 1786 the physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg happened upon the aspect ratio for the perfect piece of paper. ✍️ Mathew Lyons buff.ly/YOV3XMW

If you’re an author who’s been receiving verbose AI scam emails on a daily basis, and you’re wondering how gullible and ego-driven people think you are, this article helps to explain them. Sadly, they are successful enough to have been built into a big business. www.thedial.world/articles/new...

The Cinema Museum are still campaigning to secure their permanent home by the end of 2026. The museum is a wonderful place: a collection built + maintained by volunteers, with frequent screenings of films you're unlikely to see anywhere else. You can donate via the link below!

Happy first birthday to my book! 🥳 I wanted these incredible women to come out of the shadows of history and it has been wonderful to see that start to happen. Here’s to the women whose voices have been silenced in the history books - there are so many stories still to emerge #earlymodern

Some lunchtime reading!

This morning’s guest on the Writer’s Bookshelf is the wonderful Jem Bloomfield. Featuring CS Lewis, Dorothy L Sayers, Elizabeth Gaskell and more! mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-writer...

My latest gig!

A story of tragedy and intolerance in pre-Revolutionary France. mathewlyons.substack.com/p/microhisto...

If you like watching people in their home offices wearing headphones, all three podcasts I recorded about the Norman Conquest with @anitaanand.bsky.social and @willdalrymple.bsky.social are now free to watch on YouTube. youtu.be/qd6TbRoSLXQ?...

It's the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings today, so I'm reposting my recent piece on the Anglo-Saxon women who made the Bayeux Tapestry – and what the rarely seen reverse of it might tell us about their experiences. mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-bayeux...

To the snooty commentator who so loftily replied to my post months ago urging people to support this cause and told me the cinema must clearly be being mismanaged and that trying to persuade the owners was a fool’s exercise… HOORAY!

Who remembers the original illustrations for The Borrowers? This week I'm exploring the forgotten artist Diana Stanley, her remarkable collaboration with Mary Norton, and the pictures that stayed with me long after childhood. stillsketching.substack.com/p/between-th... #illustration #childrensbooks

A rare look at the underside of the embroidery, revealing the toil - and lives - of the anonymous stitchers.

An absolutely beautiful piece on the women who embroidered the Bayeaux Tapestry, told from the other side of the cloth.

Some hasty thoughts on the Society of Authors AI charter: samj.substack.com/p/ethical-st...

Gave a lecture on Marlowe’s Dr Faustus this morning and am now on my way to lecture on The Spanish Tragedy - it forces a comparison, and for me The Spanish Tragedy wins every time! So much heart and soul, whereas Faustus is spectacular but not heartfelt. A controversial take? #earlymodern #drama

I’m absolutely thrilled that THE ART OF A LIE has been shortlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown. This is my favourite of all my books and it means the world. Thanks to the judges and congrats to my fellow authors on the list 💚

Thrilled to be featured in The Writer's Bookshelf - on publication day, no less!

This morning's guest on the Writer's Bookshelf is the wonderful @ollie-randall.bsky.social, whose latest book, Lord's and Maharajas: Cricket, Empire and India's First Test Tour, is published by @fairfieldbooks.bsky.social this week. mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-writer...

No one who's ever read this book on my recommendation hasn't been blown away by it. (Or they're afraid to tell me.)

Tonight’s viewing. There is a connection.

Liberal England... "A chap on his own gets a bit cracked sometimes": Michael Powell on Mr Colpeper and A Canterbury Tale

More than two dozen workers at three major publishing houses—HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette—tell WIRED that LLMs are being used for publicity, cover art, back cover copy, and emails, as some execs push junior staff to champion the tech. Read the full story: buff.ly/p0ymGmN

Now watching…

🚨Breaking: SAVE has written to @citywestminster.bsky.social urging it to reject massive redevelopment plans in the Leicester Square Conservation Area that would demolish eight historic buildings and replace them with a giant LED screen bit.ly/4y7XfQb