Hello people. Just thought I'd draw your attention to an ephemeral magazine I have recently come across which somehow seems to me to have an Orwell connection. It is a hand-printed magazine "The Aspidistra Vol 1 No 1 Printed at the Victorian Press Ampleforth 1930". There is of course a poet called Ampleforth who appears in '1984', and one of Orwell's pieces is called 'Keep The Aspidistra Flying'. It's not impossible that Orwell saw a copy of this extremely obscure publication, which as far as I have been able to find out certainly didn't keep flying. It contains a few unremarkable poems, including 'An Introduction':
In this great year of holy grace
Old Father Time with purple face
Stands still aghast for now at last
A paper has come to make him pace
No longer silence round the hearth
Or rather pipe - but many a laugh
Is heard at last both high and low
The Aspidistra's now on show.
And while I'm here, much play has been made in the last few years about a quotation attributed to Orwell 'In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act'. Is this authentic Orwell?
Best wishes
Rye