Please don’t write Beijing in October 1979 out of history.
They marched under this banner - 'In Politics we want Democracy and in Art Freedom' 1989 ? NO
21
11, 2024
6
11, 2024
Sanity in a Mad World? Memories of Colin Dexter and PD James.
Today I weep for Ukraine and the environment. I really don’t understand my fellow human beings. What a terrible confession for an author! Many young black men voted for a racist. Many ‘Latinos’ voted for a man who builds a
5
07, 2024
Do Keir Starmer and other party leaders have the courage to call Farage a ‘Parliamentary Leper’?
The Madras Courier is a prestigious award winning online newspaper. Its readers are mostly in India and the Indian diaspora. I’ve been delighted to be a regular contributor of features .The editor, Shrenik Rao, asked me to write about
18
06, 2024
Speaking Truth to Power is still Perilous.
https://madrascourier.com/opinion/writing-the-womans-life The online Indian newspaper, The Madras Courier has published an essay by Lupamudra Banerjee. It is a powerful and deeply personal invocation of women writers who wanted to break the chains. The timing of this feature is inspired by
1
06, 2024
Have you discovered Shepherd.com? It’s a research tool and an asset for authors.
Shepherd.com has only been established for three years but is already getting good traffic. I'm one of 9,000 authors who have shared five of our favorite books around a topic dear to our hearts. Below are the links to my entries.
6
05, 2024
Sir Roger Bannister a great Scientist, a great sportsman and a great human being
https://www.sylviavetta.co.uk/2018/03/23/some-of-my-memories-of-a-great-human-being-roger-bannister/ A series of commemorative events are taking place in Oxford to mark Sir Roger Bannister's breaking of the the four minute mile. Last night, I watched this film in Merton College where Roger was a student . It reminded
27
10, 2023
The Fourth Oxford Indie Book Fair: Exciting event in a great venue – November 26
Andy Severn of Oxford eBooks organised a book fair in the village where I live. I encouraged author, architect and founder of the Isle of Wight festival, Ray Foulk and publisher James Harrison to have stands. We felt the idea
13
08, 2023
The Banality of Evil. We need to confront it closer to home.
My book group chose to read Isabella Bird’s A Lady’s life in the Rockies. https://www.virago.co.uk/titles/isabella-l-bird/a-ladys-life-in-the-rocky-mountains/9780860682677/ Born in 1831, Isabella, daughter of an English clergyman took a solo trip from San Francisco to the Rocky Mountains. It’s likely that the producers
22
07, 2023
Making Sense by Ai Weiwei and the Stars -want a talk?
Making Sense by Ai Weiwei. It’s in its final weeks @ the Design Museum in London so do go if you can. I went to see it with a dear friend. Simonetta Agnello Hornby and I met as young mothers.
22
07, 2023
Grayson Perry – few rivals for intellect and daring honesty in the British art world
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/exhibition/grayson-perry-smash-hits I wish I could make it to Edinburgh to see the Grayson Perry retrospective. My first encounter with the artist was in 2003. My friend Simonetta Agnello Hornby and I were visiting the Turner Prize. The moment I walked