Why did it take 34 years for the police to apologise to the families of victims of the Hillsborough disaster? It’s not because the working families were not intelligent. They were shattered with grief but soon started to organise. Lack
Launches are booked at Oxford County Library and The Nehru Centre in Mayfair. Andy Ffrench's feature in The Oxford Times left me feeling emotional. https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23129805.oxford-writer-sylvia-vetta-fills-memoirs-delicious-recipes/ Writing this book felt different to my other books, fiction and non-fiction. I dug deep
I went to London to see Qu Leilei and his partner Caroline Deane’s exhibition Calligraphy Forest of Misinformation. It was a moving experience. It was originally shown in Milan and is inspired by a phenomenon of our time https://www.facebook.com/sylvia.vetta/videos/1986347964828795 The
I wrote this to promote the Bagley Wood Fun Run (in The Oxford Times) The village of Kennington is squeezed into a narrow track of land between Bagley Woods and the River Thames. The ancient woodland was first mentioned in
We need to talk about Scientific Racism https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/jan/10/the-us-and-the-holocaust-review-unmissable-ken-burns-doc-reveals-how-hitler-was-inspired-by-america? I watched this distressing but important 3 part series. It begins with the legacy of Eugenics .The origin of this racist so-called science was the UK. It spread to the USA and
Where are you from? Start the Week: Kenan Malik, Francesca Sobande and Don Paterson discuss upbringing and identity politics with Tom Sutcliffe. Kenan titled his book Not so Black and White but I’d like you to know that Not so
In the ‘Appetiser’ to my memoir Food of Love: Cooking up a life across Gender, Class and Race, I include a photograph of an unusual sculpture being placed in a roof in Headington. I only give two pieces of
I was privileged to meet Vivienne Westwood when I reviewed exhibitions for the Weekend Magazine of The Oxford Times. I was at the press day for her crowning glory –the retrospective exhibition at the V&A in May 2004. I‘ve just
Great minds think alike or how to pinch a good title? https://membership.theguardian.com/event/kenan-malik-not-so-black-and-white-4 Nancy Mudenyo Hunt and I were not sure whether to be upset or flattered when we saw the title of Kenan Malik’s book. Not so Black and
In 'Food of Love' I invent a word ‘Communessence ‘. It means when we eat together we come together. It is inspired by the Sikh practice of 'langar' which in Punjabi means 'kitchen'. Gurdwaras have kitchens, which serve meals to