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Oxford just inherited a sizable collection of letters and manuscripts from former poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis, The Guardian reports. The archive was donated to the University’s Bodleian Library by his children, actor Daniel Day-Lewis and food writer Tamasin Day-Lewis.

The collection includes letters exchanged between the elder Day-Lewis and other notable figures, such as Kingsley Amis, Alec Guiness, and W.H. Auden. The latter, with whom Day-Lewis was especially chummy following their undergraduate years at Oxford, offers previously unseen criticism of Day-Lewis’ work that ranges from subtle (“The lines ‘For there’s no wonder … When any echo waits’, sound as...

Tamasin and Daniel Day-Lewis hand over poet laureate's archive including manuscripts and letter from Wh Auden.

Wh Auden did not want to appear condescending but his criticism of Cecil Day-Lewis's poem would certainly appear to be crushing: "You are not taking enough trouble about your medium, your technique of expression," he wrote, adding that one line sounded as if Day-Lewis was waiting for his tea.

The letter, from around 1928 or 1929 when both poets were still in their 20s, is one of many to appear in an extensive literary archive that has been donated to Oxford University's Bodleian Library by Day-Lewis's children, the actor Daniel Day-Lewis and the food writer Tamasin Day-Lewis.

The library will on Tuesday host a symposium celebrating the life and work of the former poet laureate and marking what Chris Fletcher, keeper of special collections, said was an extremely generous gift.

"It is a wonderful archive...

"Right here, right now, it's the film to beat at this year's festival," announces the Guardian's Xan Brooks. "Nimbly navigating the labyrinthine source novel by John Le Carré, [Tomas] Alfredson eases us through a run-down 70s London, all the way to a municipal MI6 bunker, out by the train yards. This, it transpires, is 'the Circus,' a warren of narrow corridors and smoke-filled offices, patrolled by jumpy, ulcerous men with loose flesh and thinning hair, peering into the shadows in search of a spy. There's a mole at the top of the Circus, a 'deep-penetration agent' leaking secrets to the Soviets. Control (John Hurt) has narrowed the hunt to five likely suspects. Now all that remains is for diffident George Smiley (Gary Oldman), working off the books and under the radar, to steal in and identify the culprit."

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy "is the kind of spy film where the...

Hey doorQs! I'm excited to be a new contributor!

I publish a science fiction magazine and blog about the genre. As a writer and editor, my main focus is on written sf, and I will pop in here occasionally to make some reading recommendations, talk about new publications, and point out things of gay interest in the written genre fiction world, where we're not as underrepresented as we tend to be on TV and in movies.

I will also be offering updates, promotions and teasers for my monthly fiction magazine M-brane Sf. Though I'll probably be plugging the zine a lot, that's not All I'm here for. In the coming weeks and months I plan to come up with some good doorQ-specific content.

This was mentioned the other day, but I want to remind everyone again that issue #3 of M-brane is coming out in a couple of days and that...

Chris Fletcher, the brain behind M-brane Sf, a new Sf fiction zine, let me know that their latest issue is due out on 4/1.

It featues many astounding fiction stories as well as an article on the gayness in Joe Haldeman's classic The Forever War.

Because he's such a big doorQ, he's offering free Pdf copies to all of you doorQs, too. 

Yup. Free Sf. Can't beat that, can you? Just zip Chris a note to mbranesf@gmail.com with "doorQ Offer" in the subject line. He'll send you a free issue of the magazine, plus a link to get a discount subscription to future issues. You can use that discount for yourself or for a friend or loved-one who's also into Sf.

It's a win-win all-around, I'd say. 

Check out M-brane Sf for more Sf goodness.

Chris Fletcher, editor of M-brane Sf, a new on-line zine of astounding Science Fiction stories, is looking for contributors.

The magazine itself isn't explicitly gay and most of the writers currently on it are straight folks, but Fletcher is gay and a doorQ. He's looking for more gay authors with great tales to contribute to his magazine.

Info on the zine can be found at his blog: www.mbranesf.blogspot.com

Click here for Chris Fletcher's DoorQ Profile.