Sadly 10 years after writing to The Independent the word ‘honour’ is still used to describe brutal murders.
My first novel came about almost by chance. I was a freelance writer on arts and antiques for several magazines. Few exhibitions made as strong an impression on me as the first show at the Ashmolean Museum by a living
After the death of the Buddha, his teachings were hardly known beyond the eastern part of India. It was Ashoka, the emperor, who spread Buddist teachings across India and Asia. Through his patronage and efforts, in effect, Ashoka created the
Where is Good King Wenceslas when you need him? My just published feminist crime thriller is titled Reptiles begins with Toad Patrol. The amphibians in Bagley Woods are benign, the reptiles are snake in the grass humans. Advent is when
The joy of the Oxford Indie Book Fair: inclusion, creativity, connection, fun & thought. The Lord High Sheriff gets it and describes it as ‘uplifting.’ https://highsheriffofoxfordshire.co.uk/a-morning-among-oxfords-storytellers Oxib is run by a volunteer committee, and you can see from the faces
...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
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/4430842.run-bagley-wood/? Reptiles, my latest novel starts with Toad Patrol in Bagley Woods. In this pic, I’m wear my high viz jacket but the month wasn’t appropriate, the amphibians move at the end of February and in March. This
ONLY CONNECT There is a glimmer of hope with the ceasefire in Gaza although given, Netanyahu unilaterally ending the last one, the world can’t trust him. Trust is so important and it comes through connecting with mutual respect and showing,
Screenshot by Zoe Broughton Tonight is the iconic Last Night of the Proms. Wouldn’t it be great if, instead of Rule Britannia, they sang for the people of Gaza. The composer Malcolm Atkins and I have kicked
My reaction to Keir Starmer stating ( as a response to a question by Douglas Alexander) that the British Empire was a "force for good in the world", is the same as my reaction to him supporting Israel when it began to
The Fifties: Don't romanticise them not even on Valentine’s Day! Yesterday, I watched two one act plays by Terrence Rattigan at the Oxford Playhouse. They took me back to the fifties like a time machine! When I interviewed Sir Roger