Category Archives: Edward Lear

Edward Lear Bust Unveiled in Corfu (and a limerick!)

A bust of Edward Lear was unveiled at the Cavalieri Hotel in Corfu on 24 May. The article also mentions an Edward Lear society I had never heard of before. Here is a picture of the bust by Franco-Hellenic sculptor … Continue reading

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Weekend Reading & Listening

Charles Lewsen kindly sent me a number of photographs of the celebrations for Edward Lear’s bicentenay in London on 12 May and I have created a Facebook album you might like to see. This week’s Guardian Book Podcast: Poet and … Continue reading

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More Edward Lear Celebrations

BBC Radio 4 has two more programmes including references to the Edward Lear celebrations on 12-13 May: Limerick Creator at 200 is an interview with Michael Rosen; Roger McGough’s Poetry Please of 21 May kicks off with a reading of … Continue reading

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Unnatural History Lessons

The early newspaper comic supplements used a wide variety of materials to fill their pages, among them alphabets — which could be put to several uses: satiric or purely nonsensical — seem to have been particularly appreciated. Here is an … Continue reading

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OED Word of the Day: Guess

The Word of the Day for the Oxford English Dictionary is, of course, … Runcible! Don’t miss the Oxford Dictionaries blog post: Higher-cynths, lower-cynths, and Seeze Pyders: why Lear’s ‘nonsense’ language is more than just fun A screen capture, as … Continue reading

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Bicentenary

The day of Edward Lear’s 200th birthday has come and celebrations are everywhere on the web. Google, with its beautiful doodle, has stimulated interest in the tech sector (also), too. It is mentioned by the Guardian, which also published a … Continue reading

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Edward Lear’s Bicentennial Events

The day of Lear’s 200th birthday is approaching and there will be events for all tastes. But first, registration is now open for the September Edward Lear Conference at Jesus College, Oxford: here you can find the details and register. … Continue reading

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Edward Lear and Crete

Stephen Duckworth has now created a website to supplement his recent article on “Edward Lear and Crete” (New Griffon 12). It provides plenty of information on Lear’s seven-week stay on the island and also contains a section of pictures, as … Continue reading

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Zoological Sketches

Osmosis between humans and animals is one of the recurring features of Edward Lear’s limericks, and one of the most often commented on by critics. It often involves birds as in the following cases, all from A Book of Nonsense: … Continue reading

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Edward Lear Bicentenary: an Update

Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education is organizing a weekend course on Nonsense literature, covering all aspects from the origins of the nursery rhymes to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, on 11-13 May and the programme looks very interesting. Of … Continue reading

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