I spent a delightful Saturday revisiting Chiang Yee -the charming artist who was ‘The Silent Traveller in Oxford etc. I first encountered his books when I ran the Jam Factory (1987-1998) and I loved them. After a symposium at the
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17546729.oxfords-bill-heine-has-died/ I first met Bill Heine at Radio Oxford in the nineties . As chair of the Thames Valley Art and Antiques Dealers Association I was regularly invited on their antiques phone in programme . .Just as I was leaving
My Anglo-Indian novel Sculpting the Elephant will be published on March 1. One part of my brain has to stay in the subcontinent so that I can talk about Ramma and Harry and Bartholomew Carew uncovering the lost history of
At times when politicians want to divide us, in my fiction, non-fiction and verse I want to celebrate our common humanity! Confluence brings together musicians, dancers and poets who have made their home in Oxford. Confluence invites diverse communities to
I love this video. https://www.facebook.com/WellRoundedLifebyattn/videos/672422466422857 It shows the stupidity of judging people by how they look. The wonderful Billy Jean King says 'We’d be better off as a society if we stopped assuming that people are the way we judge
I have been preparing for a talk I am giving tomorrow. I made this collage of some of my Oxtopian castaways who appear in the three castaway books. Some are famous and some not so well known but all are
Yesterday felt like the end of an era. Colin Dexter the inventor of Inspector Morse would have loved his memorial yesterday in Christ Church Cathedral and Oxford Town Hall. It was organised by his fellow crossword compiler and fellow castaway
I have just come from the funeral of Roger Bannister. It was a beautiful and moving service in St Mary the Virgin Church led by his daughter the Rev Charlotte Bannister Parker. I thought I knew a lot about him
Interesting episode of Endeavour on ITV tonight. It was set against real events in Oxford. I had the privilege of ‘casting away the former children’s laureate Michael Rosen and he told me this story…. In 1969, he became a graduate
Qu Leilei is a founder of the Stars Art Movement. When he told me his story it inspired me to write Brushstrokes in Time. Recording the trial of democracy leader Wei Jingsheng (1979) catapulted his life into nightmare. (again) He