Mark Forsyth

My latest book "Rhyme & Reason" is deal of the week on Audible. Hurry while stocks last! audible.co.uk/pd/Rhyme-and-R…

Apparently, Southwark Bridge is the only place in England that you can see two cathedrals from street level (Southwark is peeking out at the bottom of the Shard).

I've written a blogpost about royalty, T.S. Eliot and why you can't trust eye-witness accounts. blog.inkyfool.com/2025/12/prince…

@TheSimonEvans That's basically chapter 28 of Rhyme & Reason, summed up in a clip.

You might enjoy this, @inkyfool? (As might many others!)

The OED doesn't record "pigs-in-blankets" as meaning "sausages wrapped in bacon" until 1999. First recorded in the Birmingham Evening Mail. But "pigs-in blankets" had meant "oysters wrapped in bacon" since 1880, and subsequently meant hot-dog and sausage roll.

Here’s a little factoid about the theatre in Shakespeare’s time from ‘Rhyme & Reason’. Theatre was very popular. (And Rhyme & Reason is available on Amazon)

@CptHastings1916 But did it actually happen? Mark Forsyth’s recent book ‘Rhyme and Reason’ suggests not…

In Rhyme &Reason I said that "most people" could quote one line from each of the Big Six romantic poets: Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Keats and Shelley. My fiancée made me change it to "some people". To settle the question, how many could you do?

TOMORROW NIGHT! Join us in Stockport for an entertaining and enlightening evening with bestselling author Mark Forsyth as he gives us a light-hearted and very funny tour through English poetry in support of his new book RHYME & REASON Mon 17 Nov | 6.30 | £5.00 Tickets 👇🏻

I’m about to go and speak at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow at six pm. All about the poetry of poetry.

I'm engaged! So, naturally, I've written a blogpost about the history of engagements (military, professional etc), and the real rules for rings. blog.inkyfool.com/2025/11/i-am-e…

TIL that ‘etiquette’ originally meant label - it got its current meaning either because French courtiers started being given little bits of paper (‘etiquettes’) telling them how to behave or soldiers got the same as part of their billet (‘estiquette’).

@rcolvile This is my territory. I would insert a Breaking Bad clip, if only I knew how.

From the same root we get the English word ‘ticket’ - so for politicians, being ‘on the ticket’ literally meant you were on the piece of paper listing the candidates…

I'll be talking at Hungerford Bookshop about my new book Rhyme and Reason TOMORROW (Wednesday) evening. More details here: hungerfordbookshop.co.uk/author-events-…

The etymological connection between releasing, relaxing and relishing (and laxatives) blog.inkyfool.com/2025/10/releas…

Lord Byron sold more copies of his poem The Corsair in a single afternoon (10,000) than Austen's Pride and Prejudice sold in it's first three decades (3,000). For more strange facts about poetry, buy my new book Rhyme and Reason. tinyurl.com/bdcsda9m

@Inkyfool Mark's new (8th!) book Rhyme & Reason: geni.us/forsyth-rhyme-… (# affiliatelink)

I absolutely loved listening back to yesterday’s podcast episode with author and etymologist Mark Forsyth - @Inkyfool True to form, Mark is both fascinating and at times hilarious. Have a listen: podcast.sketchplanations.com/ordering-adjec… Or search Sketchplanations wherever you listen

@JoelSnape @tombennett71 I recommend the Phantom Tollbooth. Philo in RFAK is named in honour of Milo in that.

@tombennett71 Clicked hoping for some Carroll/Nesbit vibe books for my 8yo, who loved Mark Forsyth's Riddle For The King and is currently really into The Mysterious Benedict Society. Any suggestions gratefully received!

This is good. On reading to small children, and why no child should have to be exposed to low quality texts at any age or ability, when the world is awash with so much great writing for kids. Also, a great suggested list of books open.substack.com/pub/willorrewi…

Out now, Rhyme & Reason from @Inkyfool distills six centuries of English poetry into a gorgeous volume perfect for gifting. From Chaucer to Byron, from housemaids to kings, this is a volume to put the joy back into poetry: waterstones.com/book/rhyme-and…