The Director of the British Council in Rome, sketched distractedly in pencil, making charcoal and clay markings, on the foolscap pieces before him, upon the glass-topped table.

     "Literature, as Harold Bloom and The Harry Ransom Center, in Texas well know, is a competition, Dr. Christianus, and to be truthful, the very best there have ever been, are Dante, Shakespeare, Milton and Joyce. I would like to know, how you define literary greatness?"

     "I would only bother to write at all, Sir, to number myself among the very best, Director".

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                        'Crucifix', Praescriptio, Palm Sunday Morning, The Seven Days of Holy Week, Rome, 2018.

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