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The Oxford Times

29 06, 2015

Art CONNECTS Oxford and China Centenary Exhibition of work by Fang Zhaoling and Sylvia’s review of Xu Bing@The Ashmolean

By Sylvia Vetta|June 29th, 2015|Categories: Art, China, Art & History|0 Comments

  Yi Chen is Christensen fellow at the Ashmolean (  I first met Weimin He when he held that post. ) She and Shelagh Vainker curated this delightful exhibition. I can recommend it if you need to slow down, relax and enjoy a

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28 06, 2015

My July 2015 castaway celebrates 100 years of the WI.

By Sylvia Vetta|June 28th, 2015|Categories: The Oxford Times|0 Comments

Pauline Goddard is the Chairman of the Oxfordshire Federation of Women’s Institutes in this special year for the organisation.  Oxfordshire has 142 branches. I assumed the WI was quintessentially English but I was wrong:  it was a Canadian invention. The

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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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4 01, 2015

Ai Weiwei at Blenheim Palace?

By Sylvia Vetta|January 4th, 2015|Categories: Art, China, Art & History|0 Comments

I’m not imagining it! Until December 14, work by China’s most famous dissident artist is on display in the stately home of the Duke of Marlborough. , Click on the link  to read my review in Weekend  magazine. Copy alone.Ai Weiwei

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11 12, 2014

Love is Enough @ MAO ( Warhol and Morris)

By Sylvia Vetta|December 11th, 2014|Categories: Antiques, Art|0 Comments

Love is Enough @ MAO until March 8 ( see if it you can) This exhibition curated by Turner prize winner, Jeremy Deller is also a winner. He told me “Warhol ruined me. In 1986, aged 20 I was at

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12 10, 2014

Sir Roger & Lady Moyra Bannister – Castaway

By Sylvia Vetta|October 12th, 2014|Categories: Biography, Oxford Castaways, The Oxford Times|Tags: Sir Roger Bannister, sub-four minute mile|0 Comments

Click the link below to view this article in its original format: Sir Roger and Lady Moyra Bannister - Castaway Sylvia Vetta talks to Sir Roger Bannister on the eve of the 57th anniversary of his record-breaking run at Oxford’s

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22 08, 2014

North Hoardings at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter

By Sylvia Vetta|August 22nd, 2014|Categories: The Oxford Times|0 Comments

North Hoardings Revised 02-06 Weimin He is artist in resident at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter. A pathway between Walton Street and Woodstock Road has been created and lined with hoardings. In a few weeks’ time some of his pictures (click

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5 07, 2014

Bradman’s famous duck.

By Sylvia Vetta|July 5th, 2014|Categories: Biography, The Oxford Times|0 Comments

This clue was set by Colin Dexter and used in The Silent World of Nicolas Quinn. To solve the mystery shouldn’t require the help of Colin’s insightful Inspector Morse. The answer is ‘Donald’. Donald Duck and Don Bradman certainly but

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23 06, 2014

Flight and the Artistic Imagination

By Sylvia Vetta|June 23rd, 2014|Categories: Art, The Oxford Times|0 Comments

Flight and the Artistic Imagination @Compton Verney (August 2012) (This review was syndicated ) Compton Verney goes from strength to strength. Its visitor numbers are seventy per cent up on last year and the recently opened exhibition Flight and the

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14 06, 2014

Weimin He and The Radcliffe Observatory Quarter

By Sylvia Vetta|June 14th, 2014|Categories: Art, The Oxford Times|0 Comments

     Weimin’s painting of a workman doing a handstand in sight of the Observatory is  joyful. I was delighted to see that the editor, Tim Metcalfe had used it on the cover of Oxfordshire Limited Edition. I get great pleasure

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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 British Empire: a force for good or Colonial Holocaust?
  • Memories of Helen Peacocke: The importance of my talk at Headington LitFest on May 10
  • Build BRIDGES not WALLS or climb over them.
  • Peggy Seeger and Ruth Crawford Seeger
  • Memoir in all its variety.

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