arts by Tim Lezard


Xmas books special > Wake up by Piers Morgan “He’s an inflammatory, deliberately provocative character,” writes Piers Morgan about Donald Trump. He could, of course, be writing about himself. The former Daily Mirror editor’s


transformation from scourge of the left-wing ‘woke brigade’ to right-wing hate figure has been fascinating to watch on GMTV and Twitter during the Covid-19 pandemic. What begins as a rant about


society’s “inexorable descent into the abysmal PC-crazed abyss” mellows as


, Spotlight > Migrant blame game called out


“I view stories as both the weapon and the battleground on which power is won or lost,” Potent Whisper tells Arts. The musician has just


released his first audiobook, Lucid Lovers, a profoundly


20 | theJournalist


powerful and moving modern-day Shakespearian tragedy. Part poetry, part prose


and part Brexit rap, it attempts to reshape the asylum-seeker blame game.


“There aren’t many stories


the state seems more invested in than the idea that migrants and asylum seekers are the source of this country’s ill socioeconomic health,” he says.


“This story is told so


consistently and persuasively that the average Brit will point fingers at the vulnerable family


seeking simple safety on our shores whilst this government continues the relentless transferral of public wealth into private hands, which is of course the true source of our suffering.” Lucid Lovers is


available for free stream/ download at www. lucidlovers.co.uk


he discovers “there’s far greater pleasure in helping Captain Tom Moore raise millions or shining a light on migrant workers in the NHS than there is in waging war over vegan sausage rolls”. And crucially: “There’s also a far


greater purpose in holding government ministers to account for their life-and-death decisions than there is in constantly sniping at the likes of Meghan Markle.” I suspect this tenacity and this placing on record of ministers’ ineptitude in tackling Covid-19, will be the true legacy of Wake Up – an angry, occasionally irrational and, yes, provocative, book – rather than his misplaced ire at millennial snowflakes. https://tinyurl.com/y5ouxf9l4


Comrade Sak by Marc Wadsworth The chair of the NUJ’s black members’ council has updated his 1998 biography of Shapurji Saklatvala, an important study of African, Caribbean and Asian working class history in the 1920s and 30s. Comrade Sak charts Saklatvala’s journey from privileged Parsi beginnings to revolutionary communist, ending up as Labour MP for Battersea North. https://www.peepaltreepress.com/ books/comrade-sak


Between the Covers. The world according to Jilly Cooper It’s easy to forget my fellow Gloucestershire branch member was a journalist (Middlesex Independent, Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday) before becoming an author of raunchy novels. Fifty years on, she’s published a collection of her favourite columns in the style that made her so successful, showcasing her trademark wit, irreverence and caustically sharp observations. https://tinyurl.com/y6ymomxt


Unconsidered Trifles by Mike Amos


The Queen Mother, Juventus FC, Hollywood and Prince Harry all feature in this charming memoir from an award-winning Northern Echo reporter who spent more than half a century at the paper. It’s how journalism used to be. https://mikeamosblog.wordpress. com/autobiography/


Too Hot for Comfort by Andrew Bibby Finance reporter-turned-crime writer Andrew Bibby completes his Cumbrian Fells trilogy. Once again starring Nick Potterton, a successful London journalist now struggling as a local freelance, this entertaining and atmospheric mystery also addresses social issues such as social media trolling (maybe Piers Morgan might enjoy it?) and the economic plight of local newspapers. https://gritstonecoop.co.uk/books/ too-hot-for-comfort/


Sylvia Pankhurst by Rachel Holmes Following the author’s biography of Eleanor Marx comes the life story of a woman – political rebel, human rights


champion, radical feminist and, lest we forget, newspaper editor. Holmes is unafraid to touch on the rupture between Pankhurst’s mother Emmeline and sister Christabel and her affair with the married Keir Hardie. Sylvia’s granddaughter Helen describes the book as “extraordinary”. https://tinyurl.com/yygmklwo


Assignment Moscow – Reporting on Russia from Lenin to Putin by James Rodgers The former BBC reporter reveals how journalists’ experiences reporting from Russia for the past 100 years mirrors its changing attitude to the West. https://tinyurl.com/y4ehvp49/


Tough times for performing arts At the time of writing, the UK was on the verge of a second lockdown. According to Bectu at least,442


creative industry workers have been made redundant as a result of the pandemic. Actors and musicians have also lost their livelihoods. Please support the arts if you can – solidarity.


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