A small group of us walk in nature together and write poetry inspired by what we see. My artist friend and author of, Nature Unlocked, Diana Bell, took us to Dry Sandford last week. The previous day, a public
Yesterday I attended the Pharos lecture at the Sheldonian theatre. (Lord) Jonathan Sumption talked on the subject ‘The New Roundheads: Politics and the Misuse of History.’ At the end of his eloquent address, I knew that the label ‘roundhead’ applies
So many brave young people are fighting for their liberty at the moment, in Ukraine, in Iran and now in China. There was a time of protest with a real possibility of hope that occurred in China in 1979. The
At Oxib tomorrow, I’ll talk about and sign copies of my just published memoir Food of Love Cooking up a life through gender class and race. It’s received great endorsements from the journalist , Yasmin Alibhai
Taking a genuine interest in China has never been more important to the future of the world in the twenty first century. It's a mistake to stereotype the country and a mistake to ignore it. Rumours of a coup
Weimin He has a delightful exhibition in Green College. The beautiful Radcliffe Observatory is situated in the college and the first gallery consists of new images of it bursting with colour and joy. Below is my blog written after the
Shakespeare and Donne created thousands of words between them - its a British trait that we can be proud of. Let's find new words for our time . This government’s war on woke includes opposing the ‘decolonisation’ of museums, history
Weimin says ‘I spent an hour and a half in the print room to study Raphael’s original drawing. I tried to draw the same size as the original and I presume Raphael might have spent no more than 1.5 hours
A brilliant,compelling read. Shrenik Rao Editor of the Madras Courier Whether describing how students were ‘sent to the countryside’ or how, after Mao died, young artists hung their experimental work outside the national art gallery, Vetta is always
This film about the courageous Stars artists will come to the UK soon. I’m delighted because I wrote Brushstrokes in Time to tell the story of the Stars – it’s the ONLY novel inspired by them. I’ve had more good