Conference of Birds

On feathers that breathe and illustrated Persian manuscripts

Sep 25

August 2025

No.268

In the last couple of weeks we have, several times now, heard and therefore seen geese flying overhead—this confirms the suspicion that summer is over

Aug 31

30

2

No.267

There are ways to feel, and ways to un-feel, and it occurs* to me that the internet might be, more or less, one giant experiment in un-feeling. What…

Aug 23

23

1

No.266

Many of you will be familiar with this newsletter arriving on a Saturday afternoon and may therefore be surprised to find yourself instead receiving it…

Aug 10

25

July 2025

No.265

It has been a time. It has been a time because however prepared or unprepared you feel you might be for its inevitable passing time will find you…

Jul 19

28

3

June 2025

No.264

During the course of the day (a Friday in June) I have had time to: panic mildly about everything including whether or not I love strongly enough, put…

Jun 7

18

6

May 2025

No.263

Endless, endless experiments in sensitivity and May ending, a list.

May 31

29

3

No.262

I think there isn’t time for everything and then I think there is too much anyway and then I think I can’t decide what’s worse. I think about people…

May 24

21

1

No.261

Each morning I look at at the tiny shoots of vegetable growing in earth and immediately convince myself they look no different to the day before—not…

May 3

14

April 2025

No.260

It is surprising how quickly one’s mind can move from the forced starvation of an entire population to the benefits of hedging

Apr 26

24

1

In Praise of Anything

There are many volumes which specifically aim to praise things to a dramatic literary degree, whether that be folly, shadows, slowness, idleness…

Apr 18

5

3

No.259

Fortunate enough to live in a place where I can—having scaled a hill—see natural things near-uninterrupted for several miles, the panoramic tendency of…

Apr 12

23

1