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Novels and short stories

28 01, 2021

Inspiration: you need not be defined by where you start in life.

By Sylvia Vetta|January 28th, 2021|Categories: Kenya, Mixed relationships, Novels and short stories|0 Comments

Nancy Mudenyo Hunt and I talked  to the Friends of Watlington Library last night about the novel we unusually wrote together Not so Black and White . I described how we found a way into our story of Precious Mukosi. 

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24 01, 2021

The Ancient India of Ashoka can help us in 2021 .

By Sylvia Vetta|January 24th, 2021|Categories: Ashoka, Buddhism, India, Lost History, Nalanda, Novels and short stories|Tags: Ashoka, Nalanda, Sculpting the Elephant|0 Comments

My last visit to India in 2018 was not to the sights of Mughal India, unlike in the pic above taken in 1992,  but to a much more ANCIENT  India. I was researching for the subplot of Sculpting the Elephant

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16 01, 2021

Qu Bo the inspiration for Little Winter’s father .

By Sylvia Vetta|January 16th, 2021|Categories: China, Art & History, Novels and short stories|Tags: China History, Qu Bo, Qu Leilei, Tiger Mountain|1 Comment

For German readers of Pinselstriche and for those of you who have read Brushstrokes in Time and are interested in the background, Little Winter’s father is inspired by Qu Bo the famous father of the Stars artist Qu Leilei.  Leilei,

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30 11, 2020

Ramma’s Not so Suitable Boy and her quest for a lost civilisation

By Sylvia Vetta|November 30th, 2020|Categories: Novels and short stories|Tags: India, Mixed relationships, Oxford|0 Comments

I hope you enjoyed the launch of the audiobook? Below you will find Amita's recipe for Alloo Tikki Chaat. Some of the pics from Harry's journey from Jericho (Oxford)  to North Eastern India -the Land of the Buddha Info about

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6 11, 2020

WOULD YOU LIKE NANCY AND I TO TALK TO YOUR BOOK GROUP?

By Sylvia Vetta|November 6th, 2020|Categories: Events, Kenya, Mixed relationships, Novels and short stories|0 Comments

Life is simply not so black and white…   Precious is the daughter of a rural chief in Kenya. She is strong, smart and utterly determined. There is so much she wants to achieve in her life. But this will

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9 09, 2020

How to launch Not so Black and White – not like the crowded events of the past.

By Sylvia Vetta|September 9th, 2020|Categories: Antiques, Events, Novels and short stories, Oxford Castaways, The Oxford Times|0 Comments

It’s taken these surreal times for me to appreciate the outstanding locations and crowded book launches I've enjoyed. The most special was the launch of Oxford Castaways in the Cast Gallery of the Ashmolean  which  Sir Roger Bannister wound up,

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6 09, 2020

Why I write for the global reader.

By Sylvia Vetta|September 6th, 2020|Categories: China, Art & History, History, Novels and short stories, Oxford Castaways, The Oxford Times|0 Comments

When Claret Press suggested my tagline should be ‘Stories for the Global Reader’ , I froze for a moment. It became obvious to me – that is what I had been writing since 1998 when I started freelance journalism

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18 08, 2020

Only Connect : Love and Race, Identity and Freedom : Stories for the global reader.

By Sylvia Vetta|August 18th, 2020|Categories: Novels and short stories, Oxford Castaways|0 Comments

I feel a poem coming on! Only Connect Build bridges not barriers and not barriers to bridges. Build bridges over walls. Build bridges from a narrow mind to a world of potential. Build arcs of energy and empathy.    

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25 07, 2020

THE PROBLEM WITH BEING A GIRL

By Sylvia Vetta|July 25th, 2020|Categories: Novels and short stories|0 Comments

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000lbh9 A dramatization of Vikram Seth’s  A Suitable Boy starts on BBC1 on Sunday. In Sculpting the Elephant and  Not so Black and White I tackle the problem of being a girl. In today’s  BBC radio 4 Saturday Live 

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7 07, 2020

Ox Magazine and how do we get to discuss these ideas in schools?

By Sylvia Vetta|July 7th, 2020|Categories: Novels and short stories|0 Comments

Ox Magazine is  particularly good on art and books. It is filling the gaping hole left by the demise of Oxfordshire Limited Edition. The reason that award winning magazine turned into a vehicle for advertisement features was that all the

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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

  • 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
  • Where ever you are please Sing4Gaza !

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