samuel butchartJun 30, 20218 min readNature StripHerman X. was woken up again this morning by a squad of lawn mowers, leaf blowers, whipper snippers and vacuum cleaners, which came...
samuel butchartMay 12, 20214 min readSpecificityI have always had a problem with specificity. But you can’t be sure what I mean by that, can you? I haven’t been very specific. You’re...
samuel butchartMar 26, 20216 min readHarvestI stood by the door listening for signs of higher intelligence, but the world was unspeaking, except for the crickets, invisible...
samuel butchartMar 25, 20212 min readThe DiscoveryThe boy was bored. He drifted down the long white corridor and came across a small room; the door was wide open and inside was empty. The...
samuel butchartMar 23, 20213 min readPillars of HeraclesOne rainy summer afternoon in 1998, me and a boy who lived down the street were throwing mud at each other inside the skeleton of a...
samuel butchartMar 23, 20214 min readThe BellFor as long as I can remember, I have always been a worrier. The first time I really worried about something – the first Big Worry – was...
samuel butchartMar 23, 20211 min readFired Up AnewWhat is "fired up anew?" The coiner of this tantalising phrase was not me but the British novelist and journalist Will Self. A few years...