SUMMER 2026

ORB issue 1

ORB – Olney Review of Books is edited and curated by Simon Lee, and supported by an international list of authors and contributors.

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From the Editor

In the first summer issue of ORB, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence, Ian Markham imagines a conversation on 4th July 2026 between siblings who have different views of President Trump.

To mark Olney’s own 250th anniversary later the same month, Kenneth Newport analyses a previously obscure hymn by John Newton, On the Eclipse of the Moon 30th July 1776.

Clodagh Hayes reports on her experiences of creating from scratch a literary festival in 2026 for the least privileged parts of Notting Hill.

And our book of the year so far, Victoria Bennett’s The Apothecary by the Sea: a year in an Orkney garden (that’s Orkney, not Olney) is reviewed by a fellow resident of Orkney.

The full portfolio of articles of the first issue can be received by newsletter in time for 4th of July celebrations. There is more on the Declaration and the hymn of 1776, and reviews of 2026. In between, alongside Clodagh Hayes’ record of launching a literary festival, we have reflections on book launches, on editing series, and on the love and even the smell of books influencing life choices.

Week after week, newsletters will then reflect on one article in turn, until we reach the next quarter, and so on.

The Inspiration of ORB

The Olney Review of Books (ORB) will feature views and reviews from Olney, the home of John Newton’s Amazing Grace (1773) and of the poet William Cowper’s The Diverting History of John Gilpin (1782), alongside views and reviews from as far away as Bedford (12 miles to the east), the home of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), and Philadelphia (3,300 miles to the west), the home of the American Declaration of Independence (4th July, 1776), together with views and reviews of outer space, plus essays on contemporary culture, the market place, and the public square which is shaped by politics, law, education and faith.

There might be an assumption that a big city base fosters cosmopolitan as well as metropolitan views, whereas a small market town at the cusp of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire is, at its best, Arcadian. But there is no reason why ORB cannot have a global outlook and feature diverse viewpoints.

Although rooted in its most famous collaboration of 250 years ago, the book of Olney Hymns, the town can also foster a forward-thinking mindset.

Indeed, the most famous hymn composed in Olney, known to us as Amazing Grace, was originally entitled by John Newton, Faith’s review and expectation which captures ORB’s spirit of being a review which generates and explores expectation.

Books in Orbit

ORB begins as a quarterly, reflecting the seasons, with our first issue in the summer of 2026.

In a sentence, ORB is interested in the whole process of books making a difference in the world, in how books are inspired, imagined, written, commissioned, rejected, printed, published, launched and read, not just how they are initially reviewed, plus how they are then put on shelves, displayed, hidden, loved, forgotten, shared, celebrated in festivals and through awards, circulated through libraries, set as texts in schools and universities, read in book clubs, discussed, argued about, criticised, cherished, revised, adapted to different media, illustrated, translated, bowdlerised, abridged, applied, given sequels and prequels, acknowledged as inspiring readers and other writers (or how they make such a difference without being acknowledged) and then how the cycle continues over the decades, through major anniversaries, such as centenaries, and how, 250 years on, a single hymn within a book or a single revolutionary text, can become the source of so much reflection on the meaning of life, on wisdom for the ages, and on timeless values.

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On the Eclipse of the Moon

The first two verses of that 1776 hymn, by John Newton, explain why we have adopted the word and the imagery of ORB:

On the Eclipse of the Moon
30th July, 1776

The moon in silver glory shone,
And not a cloud in sight,
When suddenly a shade begun
To intercept her light.

How fast across her orb it spread,
How fast her light withdrew!
A circle tinged with languid red,
Was all remained in view.

FROM THE LAUNCH ISSUE

ORB

Through the {p}ages

Through the {p}ages

Simon Lee reflects on history through “book-years,” linking personal memories, public events, sporting moments and literary anniversaries to the 250-year perspective of ORB’s first issue.
Simon Lee, EditorSimon Lee, Editor
On the Eclipse of the Moon 30th July 1776

On the Eclipse of the Moon 30th July 1776

In a letter to John Thornton dated 6 August 1776, John Newton wrote: “I observed the Eclipse of the Moon on Tuesday night”.  Given that 6 August of that year…
Kenneth NewportKenneth Newport
How to Create a Literary Festival in Four Months (and a bit)

How to Create a Literary Festival in Four Months (and a bit)

My first thought when my old friend Alex asks in November if I’ll help organise the inaugural Notting Hill Literary Festival to be held in May 2026. Alex, a trustee…
Clodagh HayesClodagh Hayes

After-word

This brings us back full circle to the powers of observation in our opening articles, from Olney to Orkney via outer space, from the founders of America to the founders of festivals and series, to the love of books and words, to the value and values of conversations between friends, from the Amazing Grace of the Olney Hymns to the amazing grace of an Orkney garden.

In our second issue, we will celebrate the 300th anniversary of Jonathan Swift’s satire, known as Gulliver’s Travels but originally entitled, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships Part I of which takes us on A Voyage to Lilliput, a land of small people.

Had Swift been writing in our era, he would have been 359 and would almost certainly have imagined a journey to the Moon and beyond….