32 years ago on May 28, 1989 more than 1.5 million Hong Kongers took to the streets in support of the Tiananmen Movement in China, 8 days after the Chinese Communist Party declared Martial Law in Beijing. Every June 4
For German readers of Pinselstriche and for those of you who have read Brushstrokes in Time and are interested in the background, Little Winter’s father is inspired by Qu Bo the famous father of the Stars artist Qu Leilei. Leilei,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/06/dozens-of-hong-kong-pro-democracy-figures-arrested-in-sweeping-crackdown This is so sad because the political pendulum is swinging back towards Mao’s Cultural Revolution. I have been interested in China from childhood and studied some modules of Chinese history at college when that was rare. When I met
https://www.guernicamag.com/shamsie_02_01_2012/? I hate stereotypes and dislike of them is I believe the motivation for the sad ‘appropriation ‘saga. The wonderful Kamila Shamsi rightly wonders in this link - why there should be obstacles to telling peoples stories. For 18
When I read about Ashoka the 3rd century BC ruler of much of India, my curiosity was aroused. Ashoka began as a warlord but felt remorse at the waste of life on the battlefield. He invited followers of the Buddha
When Claret Press suggested my tagline should be ‘Stories for the Global Reader’ , I froze for a moment. It became obvious to me – that is what I had been writing since 1998 when I started freelance journalism
Has Covid affected readers of my blog as it has me? Because many of us have more reflection time have you found yourselves remembering something which leads you on a nostalgic journey? Every time I walk by the Radcliffe Observatory
I wanted to take my mind off the issues surrounding Black Lives Matter and my latest novel with Nancy Mudenyo Hunt - Not so Black and White. The arrival of the German translation of Brushstrokes in Time has done
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000djk8 Last night Saturday Review discussed American Dirt and Cultural Appropriation. I have a personal interest in the subject . When I was writing Brushstrokes in Time at the same time, in Montreal, Madeleine Thien was writing Don’t Say We have Nothing.
Women's Mosques in Chinese Islam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DewWSGTwOXo China used to be surprisingly tolerant of Muslims and uniquely had 500 women’s mosques run by female imams . I learned about them from Dr Maria Jaschok, Director of International Gender Studies at Oxford.