I couldn’t have written Brushstrokes in Time without the background detail of the years 1965-1980 provided by the artist Qu Leilei. The artist's father, Qu Bo, was the most famous novelist of his time. Tracks in the Snowy Forest was
During the 15 years I reviewed exhibitions for The Oxford Times – when I was proud to write for it - the show that moved me the most was Qu Leilei's ‘Everyone’s Life is an Epic.’ Meeting him and hearing
Do you know how it feels to read thoughts that echo your own? I’ve just read Kwame Anthony Appiah’s The Lies that Bind. My second novel Sculpting the Elephant explores identity and crossing cultures. In Oxford we have the world’s
There is a chapter in Brushstrokes in Time set in 1990 in a so called ’Re-Education Centre’. My novel was published in 2016 so, in fairness, I added an authorial note I titled ‘The Changing Face of China.’ I wrote
The historian Margaret MacMillan in her thought provoking BBC Reith Lectures ‘The Mark of Cane’ tackles the subject of war in a manner that includes multiple different narratives. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csxgs0 In her fourth lecture ‘Managing the Unmanageable’ in which she talks
Brushstrokes in Time has been translated into German and Drackenhaus Verlag will publish it in 2019. Claret Press will publish my second novel Sculpting the Elephant next March. If only I wrote crime fiction I could make money but I am a sad old
The Kennington Festival of Arts kicked off with the memorable Peggy Seeger. She had the audience in the palm of her hand and her empathy shobe bright. I can recommend First Time Ever . Many memoirs have too much
Within 10 years it is likely that China will become the largest economy in the world (as it once was) but few Brits know much about Chinese history. This series is brilliant and I hope will spark an interest. Rana
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-43361276 Oh dear the Emperor has returned ! I titled the epilogue of Brushstrokes in Time : The Changing Face of China. ‘China has had a dynastic government for 2000 years. They may not like that description but the Chinese
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