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  The Ballad of a Nun - A decadent...

  John Davidson

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  John Davidson was born at Barrhead, East Renfrewshire on 11th April 1857.  
  In 1862 his family moved to Greenock and there he began his education at Highlanders' Academy.  Davidson would now spend many years at school and the beginnings of a career in various industries before gaining employment in various schools. 
  By now literature was a large part of his activities and his first published work was ‘Bruce, A Chronicle Play’ in 1886. Four other plays quickly followed including the somewhat brilliant pantomimic ‘Scaramouch in Naxos’ (1889). 
  With his reputation gradually providing an income he was also able to explore his true medium; Verse.  ‘In a Music Hall and Other Poems’ (1891) together with ‘Fleet Street Eclogues’ (1893) were ample proof that he possessed a quite rare, genuine and distinctive poetic gift.   
  Davidson now turned further and further towards verse. In 1894 he published his most popular volume, ‘Ballads and Songs’ (1894), and this was followed by a further ‘Fleet Street Eclogues’ (Second Series) (1896) and by ‘New Ballads’ (1897) and ‘The Last Ballad’ (1899). 
  As the new century dawned Davidson was hard at work on a series of ‘Testaments’, in which he gave definite expression to his philosophy and were published over a seven year period; ‘The Testament of a Vivisector’ (1901), ‘The Testament of a Man Forbid’ (1901), ‘The Testament of an Empire Builder’ (1902), and ‘The Testament of John Davidson’ (1908).  
  However, on 23rd March 1909, with his finances in ruins, the onset of cancer and profound hopelessness and clinical depression he left his house for the last time.  His body was only found on September 18th by some local fishermen.

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  Glory Bishop

  Deborah L. King

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  Glory Bishop lives her life in pieces. At work and with her friends, she reads novels, speaks her mind, and enjoys slow dances and stolen kisses with her boyfriend, JT. But at home, Glory follows strict rules and second-guesses every step. Though she dreams of going to college and living like a normal teenage girl, her abusive mother has other ideas. 
  When JT leaves to join the navy, Glory is left alone and heartsick. The preacher's son, Malcolm Porter, begins to shower her with lavish gifts, and her mother pushes Glory to accept his advances. Glory is torn between waiting for true love with JT or giving in to the overzealous Malcolm. 
  When a stranger attacks Glory on the street, Malcolm steps in to rescue her, and her interest in him deepens. But the closer she gets to him, the more controlling he becomes. Glory must eventually decide whether to rely on others or to be her own savior.

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  Modest

  Ellen Brammar

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  'A woman. On the line in Gallery Two of all places. I never thought I'd see the day. This is progress, my dear.'
  It's 1874, and Elizabeth Thompson stuns the artistic establishment with her painting The Roll Call. Five years later, she falls two votes short of becoming the first woman elected to the Royal Academy.
  In between, she shoulders the hopes and dreams of female artists across the country, while fighting for her place at a table full of top hats, neckties and mutton chop beards.
  A thrilling collision of music hall, cabaret and drag king swagger, Modest tells the true story of a pioneering megastar of the Victorian art scene. Written by Ellen Brammar and with music by Rachel Barnes, it was first produced in 2023 by Middle Child in collaboration with Milk Presents at Hull Truck Theatre before touring.

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  Favour

  Ambreen Razia

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  'I'm going to answer all your wishes, bubba! Big or small, it'll be me who makes them come true, no one else.'
  Leila is happy living at home with Noor, her loving but traditional grandmother. But when Aleena, her fiercely independent mother, returns home from prison determined to deliver a new world of fun and excitement, their calm lives are upended in a blur of nail varnish and sweet treats.
  Family secrets come tumbling into the light, and Leila finds the task of deciding on her future more difficult than she first thought.
  Ambreen Razia's play Favour is a touching and hopeful family drama about a working-class Muslim family, tackling duty, addiction and the challenge of pulling yourself back together after it all falls apart. It was a Bush Theatre and Clean Break co-production and premiered at the Bush, London, in 2022, directed by Róisín McBrinn and Sophie Dillon Moniram.

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  The Top 10 Poets – The Men -...

  Edgar Allan Poe, Jalaluddin...

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  The language of Poetry is an art that most of us attempt at some point in our lives.  Although its commonplace exposure has been somewhat marginalised in today’s often fast-paced lives we all recognise good verse that can empathise with our thoughts or open us up to experience new things in new ways, to better understand and to enjoy the many strands of our lives. 
   
  But finding a starting point can be overwhelming, even off-putting, so in this series we offer up our Top 10 classic poets, who brim with talent and verse, on a range of subjects and themes that we can all enjoy. 
   
  Where do you go from Shakespeare?  The choice and talents of who to choose from among other classic poets is overwhelming.  And yet many names cannot be left out.  Once again choice is subjective in some cases but, in many others, there can be no argument.

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  The Raven - A Robin Reads Audiobook

  Edgar Allan Poe

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  Edgar Allan Poe's peerless narrative poem about a forlorn lover who is visited by a mysterious raven. 
  First published in 1845. Narrated by Robin Reads.

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