Writing the Oxford Castaways series for 10 years I had the privilege of interviewing 120 incredible people and often becoming friends with them afterwards.( I should have said 119 – because I was the final castaway interviewed by Philip Hind)
Click here to read the feature .Dwina Gibb This pic was taken at the launch of Oxford Castaways 3 . These are some of the castaways. They include Roger Bannister-the first man to run a mile in under 4
Just listened to my friend Ray Foulk on the Today Programme describing how he stole Dylan from Woodstock . It is the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival but the most famous and elusive artist of the time was not
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00075hn What a brilliant interview! As a humble freelance writer I was privileged that Chris (Lord) Patten of Barnes and Chancellor of Oxford University agreed to be interviewed by me. His castaway story is in Oxford Castaways 2. There is
I spent a delightful Saturday revisiting Chiang Yee -the charming artist who was ‘The Silent Traveller in Oxford etc. I first encountered his books when I ran the Jam Factory (1987-1998) and I loved them. After a symposium at the
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17546729.oxfords-bill-heine-has-died/ I first met Bill Heine at Radio Oxford in the nineties . As chair of the Thames Valley Art and Antiques Dealers Association I was regularly invited on their antiques phone in programme . .Just as I was leaving
My Anglo-Indian novel Sculpting the Elephant will be published on March 1. One part of my brain has to stay in the subcontinent so that I can talk about Ramma and Harry and Bartholomew Carew uncovering the lost history of
At times when politicians want to divide us, in my fiction, non-fiction and verse I want to celebrate our common humanity! Confluence brings together musicians, dancers and poets who have made their home in Oxford. Confluence invites diverse communities to
I love this video. https://www.facebook.com/WellRoundedLifebyattn/videos/672422466422857 It shows the stupidity of judging people by how they look. The wonderful Billy Jean King says 'We’d be better off as a society if we stopped assuming that people are the way we judge
I have been preparing for a talk I am giving tomorrow. I made this collage of some of my Oxtopian castaways who appear in the three castaway books. Some are famous and some not so well known but all are