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10 06, 2015

Whose arrived on Oxtopia in 2015? Legs Larry Smith, Lady Carnarvon, Georgina Ferry and Aidan Meller are joined by Katie Read

By Sylvia Vetta|June 10th, 2015|Categories: Oxford Castaways|0 Comments

Tim Metcalfe’s apt title for this month’s castaway feature (June 2015) is ‘What Katie Did Next.’ The Katie in question is director and publicist Katie Read. At only 37 she already has  a string of achievements in the theatre. Now

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8 06, 2015

The launch of Stealing Dylan from Woodstock.

By Sylvia Vetta|June 8th, 2015|Categories: Oxford Castaways|0 Comments

 Artist and castaway, Weimin He's on the spot sketch of the launch of Stealing Dylan from Woodstock. Ray and Caroline Foulk asked me to compere their book launch on June 9 in Blackwell at 7-8pm. When I cast Ray away

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7 06, 2015

Reflections on radicalisation

By Sylvia Vetta|June 7th, 2015|Categories: Letters to the press|0 Comments

Published in The Oxford Times on Thursday March 3 2016 Alison Boulton, in her feature Radical Approach to Terror, interviewed Professor Roger Griffin of Oxford Brookes University ahead of his lecture on March 16. Researching the background to my novel

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5 04, 2015

The launch of ‘I Love You All’

By Sylvia Vetta|April 5th, 2015|Categories: Events, Kennington|0 Comments

Tim Metcalfe, before his tenure as editor of Oxfordshire Limited Edition came to an end, agreed to send Trevor Cowlett to Oxtopia . My April 2015 Castaway was not famous like castaways  Sir Roger Bannister or  Peggy Seeger  but is the director of a

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9 03, 2015

Georgina opens the door to Science and to the inspirational Dorothy Hodgkin

By Sylvia Vetta|March 9th, 2015|Categories: Oxford Castaways|1 Comment

Our March 2015 castaway is the author,broadcaster and journalist Georgina Ferry. Georgina is brilliant at communicating science and telling stories about scientists to non scientists. She is the biographer of Dorothy Hodgkin of whom she said, “She was the least

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21 02, 2015

How Ray Foulk stole Dylan from Woodstock

By Sylvia Vetta|February 21st, 2015|Categories: History|1 Comment

I feel privileged. My thirty first castaway, Ray Foulk, was the man responsible for stealing Bob Dylan from Woodstock (NY) and luring him to the Isle of Wight. For a few days in 1969 the eyes of the world were

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5 02, 2015

Lady Fiona Carnarvon : the mistress of the real DowntonAbbey

By Sylvia Vetta|February 5th, 2015|Categories: Oxford Castaways|1 Comment

  Lady Fiona Carnarvon the mistress of the real Downton Abbey is my February 2015 castaway. I took a trip to Highclere Castle to interview her. She is an avid reader and writer. Her books tell the true stories of

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2 02, 2015

Mezzopiano are coming to Kennington on March7

By Sylvia Vetta|February 2nd, 2015|Categories: Events|0 Comments

Smoke and Mirrors Flier A4 V1 The talented Nia Williams has written the musical Smoke and Mirrors about twins born into poverty in Berlin in 1900, who become separated when fleeing Berlin and the Nazis. One finishes up in California,

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12 01, 2015

Nancy Hunt: declared ‘most inspirational woman’in UK Venus Awards

By Sylvia Vetta|January 12th, 2015|Categories: Oxford Castaways|1 Comment

Its official ! On Friday, Nancy Hunt was named ‘the most inspirational woman’ in the UK. The Venus Awards were established in 2011 to promote women in business.  In her category Nancy was recognised as the founder of the Nasio

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8 01, 2015

Meet the King of La-di-Dah: ‘Legs Larry Smith’

By Sylvia Vetta|January 8th, 2015|Categories: Oxford Castaways|1 Comment

George Harrison of the Beatles gave the name of ‘Legs' to my January 2015 castaway, Larry Smith of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. George also called him King of La-di- Dah and even wrote a song about him. He introduced

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About the Author

As a writer Sylvia Vetta is best known in the Oxfordshire area for the 18 years she was a freelance writer on The Oxford Times and other magazines,  especially for her popular ‘Oxford Castaways’ series which gave her the opportunity to write the lives of  120 inspirational people from five continents. Her novels cross cultures but have impressive endorsements for their authenticity. ‘Brushstrokes in Time’ set in China and California wouldn’t have been possible without the three years she spent researching and interviewing Qu Leilei, a founder of the Stars Art Movement (Beijing 1979) who saved the life of the first leader of the Democracy Movement. It has been endorsed by China experts from Oxford, Harvard and Frankfurt and the poet Jenny Lewis says it is “Utterly mesmerising and unforgettable and among my top ten historical novels.”

‘Sculpting the Elephant’ set in Oxford and India, is close to her own life experience. Her Indian born partner Atam Vetta’s PhD was in Quantitative Genetics. She learned from him that each one of us is unique. Life has taught her that when you see your fellow human being as just that – a unique human being – and refrain from attaching labels you react with empathy. That is why she and one of her Oxford castaways, Nancy Mudenyo Hunt, have been able to co-author the novel ‘Not so Black and White’.

Recent Posts

  • The tables turned & Oxford Lives interviewed ME!
  • Writing ‘Reptiles’ evoked memories of Bagley Wood
  • ONLY CONNECT! Kennington ( Oxfordshire) and Musanda(Kenya)
  • Making HISTORY and friendship across continents.
  • Ai Weiwei and the Stars Art Movement

Categories

  • Ai Weiwei
  • Antiques
  • Art
  • Ashoka
  • Biography
  • Buddhism
  • China, Art & History
  • Cultural Appropriation
  • Events
  • History
  • India
  • Kennington
  • Kenya
  • Letters to the press
  • Lost History
  • Madras Courier
  • Mixed relationships
  • Nalanda
  • Novels and short stories
  • Oxford
  • Oxford Castaways
  • Shepherd.com
  • The Bodleian library
  • The Oxford Times
  • The Stars ArtMovement

Links

  • Admin Login
  • Altitude Creative
  • Andrew Cohen
  • Claret Press
  • Drachenhaus Verlag
  • Essential Audiobooks
  • Friends of Kennington Library
  • Heather Rosser: OWG author
  • Kennington Overseas Aid
  • Love That Jewellery
  • Madras Courier
  • Nic Newman: editor & energy journalist
  • Oxford Castaways – Facebook
  • Oxford Ebooks
  • Oxford Indie Bookfair
  • Oxfordfolio
  • Qu Lei Lei
  • Shepherd .com
  • Shepherd Books
  • Shepherd/ Best Books
  • The Nasio Trust
  • The Oxford Indie BookFair
  • The Oxford Writers Group
  • Weimin He
  • Writers in Oxford
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