7 05, 2026

Interviewing the castaways: the importance of asking open questions and then listening & lessons for would-be writers from Colin Dexter.

By |May 7th, 2026|Categories: Antiques, Biography, Chris Patten, Colin Dexter, David Attenborough, Events, Kenya, Kyoto Prize, Oxford, Oxford Castaways, Roger Bannister, The Oxford Times, The Stars ArtMovement|0 Comments

 Yesterday, I attended the Kyoto Prize lecture by Carol Gilligan. The psychologist  has shown how women in particular silence themselves and say what they think they should say rather than express their true experience and opinion. Here is her lecture.

19 11, 2025

The tables turned & Oxford Lives interviewed ME!

By |November 19th, 2025|Categories: Art, Biography, Events, History, Kennington, Letters to the press, Lost History, Novels and short stories, Oxford, Oxford Castaways, The Bodleian library, The Oxford Times, The Stars ArtMovement|0 Comments

...and my life in one picture thanks to the artist Diana Bell. Last week I was interviewed for Oxford Lives by Jeremy Allen and Graeme Fry produced this podcast from the interview. https://oxfordlives.libsyn.com/oxford-lives-episode-69-with-sylvia-vetta For ten years, I wrote the life

25 06, 2025

 The Rise and Rise of Oxford Indie Book Fair. Why? Is it tapping into a need? 

By |June 25th, 2025|Categories: Ai Weiwei, Art, Biography, China, Art & History, Cultural Appropriation, History, Lost History, Madras Courier, Novels and short stories, Oxford, The Oxford Times, The Stars ArtMovement|0 Comments

(See the programme at the bottom of the blog) I’m one if the organisers of the Oxford Indie Book Fair. Our fairs are in Oxford in the University Examinations Halls and, on July 13, as the last event of the

18 01, 2025

The Water of Life: Bill Nighy, Victor Glynn and I

By |January 18th, 2025|Categories: Ashoka, Buddhism, Events, India, Kennington, Kenya, Lost History, Mixed relationships, Nalanda, Novels and short stories, Oxford, Oxford Castaways, The Bodleian library, The Stars ArtMovement|0 Comments

The Water of Life: Bill Nighy, Victor Glynn and I   Do you find that life is like water –rivers flowing alongside crossing, meeting and blending? Thursday was like that for me. The film producer Victor Glynn suggested I be

27 12, 2024

What have Michael Rosen, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Professor Irene Tracey, Korky Paul, Paterson Joseph and me in common?

By |December 27th, 2024|Categories: Ashoka, Buddhism, Events, India, Kennington, Kenya, Mixed relationships, Nalanda, Novels and short stories, Oxford, Oxford Castaways, The Bodleian library, The Oxford Times, The Stars ArtMovement|0 Comments

I love the Today programme during the Christmas period, when it has guest editors. Their choice of in depth subject matter is inspirational. First off was author and screenwriter, Frank Cottrell Boyce, on a subject dear to my heart -