Politics, Lives, Page Turners: The Courage of Claret Press publishing Sylvia Vetta and Pen Farthing
Politics, Lives, Page Turners: The Courage of Claret Press publishing Sylvia Vetta and Pen Farthing
I first made this blog before Pen Farthing and I talked at the Oxford Indie Book Fair .
Today’s Guardian feature warrants re-posting it.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/feb/18/kabul-afghanistan-animal-airlift-whistleblower-employment-tribunal?
I love my publishers new book mark. It sums up what Claret Press is about. Their latest author is Pen Farthing and his book is titled Operation Ark. The last government and the Tory Press trashed Pen’s reputation as a means of diverting our attention from the chaos and apathy that marked Dominic Raab’s handling of leaving Afghanistan. Decide for yourself after reading his account telling the WHOLE story ! Or come to the Oxford Indie Book Fair on Dec 1 and hear us discuss it. https://www.oxfordindiebookfair.co.uk/whats-on-december…/
Pen had previously been published by one of the big guys, Penguin Random House. But they decided his brand is ‘toxic’. I’m delighted that Claret Press has published his account of events in August 2022, so readers can make up their own minds knowing all the story and not just the propaganda line ‘Pets before People’. In my opinion, the government used him as a scapegoat to divert the vitriol away from their incompetence. After twenty years in Afghanistan, they hadn’t a plan for an orderly and successful evacuation and the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab couldn’t be bothered. He preferred to stay on the beach in Cyprus. That Pen managed to get out his 68 Afghani staff without their help, is an achievement. You need to read the whole story to understand that this charity is not about Pets over People. 1000 Afghans a year were dying of rabies after being bitten by street dogs and his charity was trying to make that a thing of the past.
I knew that Katie had courage. My first novel Brushstrokes in Time was 10 years in the making. When I learned from the artist Qu Leilei about the courageous Stars artists, I realised that their story was ignored and forgotten –written out of history. I believe it’s an IMPORTANT story that needs to be told. As no one else would write it, and no one in China can, because of censorship, I took on the task. That entailed three years interviewing Leilei and other Stars, a year researching and visiting the places in the book. While doing that I studied for the Diploma in Creative Writing at Oxford ,so that I had confidence to do it as a novel. By creating a few fictional characters, I could tell the story without harm to living people.
I sent it to Myslexia. I knew they introduce you to an agent if they shortlist you. They indeed did that for me. The agent said that my novel was interesting, well-written and a publishable page turner but unfortunately she wouldn’t be able to sell it. I tried other agents and the ones who responded did so in a similar way. One was honest and explained the reason, ‘You are not Chinese.’ They were afraid of the toxicity of the label ‘cultural appropriation.’ I thought the Ms would stay on my computer until a friend told me about Claret Press. In her latest newsletter she explains why she takes on authors like me and Pen. https://www.claretpress.com/single-post/a-sip-of-claret-news-operation-ark-is-out-now
She writes,
‘Last Saturday I set up my stall at the Oxford Indie Book Fair alongside 60 other exhibitors. The OXIBF promotes books and voices from outside the mainstream publishing industry (by mainstream I mean the ‘Big Five’ publishers responsible for 80% of all books published in the US and UK). It was, as always, a delight. It was, as always, bigger and better than before. And its existence is thanks to Claret Press author Sylvia Vetta and a few of her friends. I met Sylvia after a literary agent told her that no publisher would take her novel which was inspired by Qu Leilei, the Chinese founder of the Stars Art Movement, now exiled — like so many of his compatriots. Her fictionalised telling of recent Chinese history lifts the lid on its tumultuous change including the Cultural Revolution, the Democracy Movement and the Stars Art Movement (1979).
Equally, it is a touching coming-of-age love story. Brushstrokes in Time was praised by professors at both Harvard and Oxford and the Guardian’s chief foreign correspondent for China, among others. It was translated into German. And yet, the reason why the big publishers wouldn’t take it because Sylvia is not Chinese. They didn’t think it was authentic enough despite the story being based on many, many interviews of Qu Leilei conducted by Sylvia herself.
Also at the Oxford Indie Book Fest was The Dawson and Lucy Series author Steve Sheppard, who writes page-turning thrillers full of twists and adventure with a kick-ass heroine and a lovable hero. They also happen to be laugh-aloud funny. So are they comedy thrillers? What to call this unique blending of styles? For lack of an easily marketable label, Steve couldn’t get published by the big leagues. My gain. Again Steve’s books have been praised widely by comedy writers and by his growing legion of fans.
And then there’s Pen Farthing. We launched his book in London this Monday. He was a Sunday Times bestseller who fell out of favour with his publisher because of the uproar over the Afghanistan Evacuation. You’d think that would mean that he’d be even more of a hot ticket. But no. He got blackballed and lost not just his publisher but also his literary agent. Again, his book, Operation Ark, about escaping from Afghanistan during the disastrous evacuation in the summer of 2021, has been highly praised.’
Has Stephen Mangan seen Oxford Castaways?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0028401
How do ideas spread, consciously and unconsciously? Has Stephen Mangan seen a copy of Oxford Castaways? His new comedy show THE ISLAND envisages Desert Island Disc castaways on the same island having to rub along together. That is exactly how I devised my castaway series. I gave my island a NAME – OXTOPIA. Oxford Castaway, the artist Weimin He, painted the cover illustration. The island is covered with the inspirational items that the castaways chose to take with them to Oxtopia. Will they share them? When we launched Oxford Castaways 2, we held a debate. Four castaways chaired by castaway Bill Heine discussed what of Oxford they would like to recreate on Oxtopia and what they would like to leave behind?
I was moved last week by Nemony Lethbridge on Desert Island Discs. Under Lauren Laverne, the castaways have become less predictable and, in my opinion, this was one of the best ever episodes . I apologise if I sound egotistical but that variety is what I tried to create in my castaways series for The Oxford Times. I was privileged to interview 120 inspirational people with links to Oxford, every month from Jan 2007 to Dec 2016. I modeled it on Desert Island Discs (without the music). My castaways could take art, books and objects to the island to Oxtopia. The features were turned into three books filled with fabulous photographs and life stories. The launch of the first book was in the Ashmolean Cast Gallery where the legendary Roger Bannister gave the closing speech. 
The artist Weimin He illustrated the cover of Oxford Castaways (1) Joanna Harrison (The Snowman animator ) designed the cover of Oxford Castaways 2.
Weimin has attended and sketched at many castaway events. He sketched the wonderful Peggy Seeger when she came to another gala night I organised. Weimin and Peggy are both Oxtopians
Here is her fascinating life story Peggy Seeger
The series could have gone on forever but Newsquest stopped employing freelancers so my twenty years of writing for The Oxford Times ended. While it lasted it, the castaway events were warm, fun and friendly like this one in Antiques on High. I’m next to Colin Dexter and behind me are the poet Jenny Lewis, a founder of the Isle of Wight Festival, Ray Foulk ,the film producer Victor Glynn , former radio journalist Bill Heine and illustrator Korky Paul . 
If you are interested in the series, documentary film maker Zoe Broughton filmed this illustrated lecture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NvrzUnGE50
Here are a couple of collages of some Oxford Castaways.
It was a huge privilege to get to know these wonderful people and many became friends including the Bannisters. Roger was present at the launch of Oxford Castaways 3 in the Maths Insitute. His daughter, the delightful Charlotte Bannister Parker presided. It was one of his last public events. and I love this photo of them together taken at the launch event. 
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When he died I wrote this tribute for the Indian online newspaper The MadrasCourier .
Simon Schama and I
Simon Schama and I
I may not have Simon Schama’s brains and erudition but, watching episode 2 of ‘Whose Britain is it any way’ made me realise that we share the same attitude to the evolution of this country- a realistic optimism not blind to the dark side of life.
He tells the story of the cultural enrichment of our culture by the Windrush generation though music. Simon highlights the role of the Jacaranda Club and how exposure to the music of these brave newcomers, made the Beatles. One moment jarred – a reminder of a dreadful murder in Coventry where Satnam Singh Gill was murdered for having a white girl friend. My motivation for letting Claret Press publish my memoir was a desire to tell the untold story of women like me who married men who were not white at a time when relationships like ours were regarded with hostility. Here’s how Atam and I met at a time of visceral hatred of immigrants stirred up by venal politicians.
Simon uses music and I use food to tell my story of cultural enrichment. Simon’s fellow historian Professor Rana Mitter seemed to find it a good read.
Told with brio and verve, this is an astonishing life story that takes in working-class life in post-war Britain, and the transformation of society in the decades that followed. Encounters with India and China shape a life where enthusiasm for food, art and politics come together in a combination of profoundly serious issues and the laughter of liberation: Rana Matter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, University of Oxford
People often fear difference but nothing illustrates better the richness that has come to the UK from immigration than the recipes in my book. My mother’s English cream tea and my grandmother’s Cornish pasties have not gone away but my family and friends have added recipes from the countries of their origins and they include Italy, France, Iceland, China, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Kenya and the Americas.
With food comes love and with love comes hope.
Once a month, I go to Confluence Café where people of all backgrounds come together to share music and that experience influences them and their creativity. Today we had a taste of West Papua Independence music. Simon Schama and I believe that British culture is expansive and embracing so we have nothing to fear from immigration.
The Water of Life: Bill Nighy, Victor Glynn and I
The Water of Life: Bill Nighy, Victor Glynn and I
Do you find that life is like water –rivers flowing alongside crossing, meeting and blending?
Thursday was like that for me. The film producer Victor Glynn suggested I be an extra in the new film his son Phin Glynn is producing. The lead role in & Sons is taken by Bill Nighy. We were in the funeral scene, shot in the delightful Worcester College Chapel. Sat behind me was Chris Gray and his wife Rosemary (Rosemary is in the pic) Chris was editor of Weekend during the ten years that I wrote reviews for it. Thanks to him I met the artist Qu Leilei when I reviewed Everyone’s Life is an Epic for the magazine. I’d say ‘thank you, Chris’ but it led to ten years work and this
I was lucky enough to meet Victor when he taught for one year only on the Diploma in Creative Writing @ Oxford University when I chanced to be a student. I had to cast him away on Oxtopia, didn’t I – a no brainer! Anyone interested in the film industry will enjoy the feature.
A few of us students continued to meet and write and I suggested Shakespeare in Oxford as an umbrella of scripts which we pitched to Victor. It led to this video which he used to pitch the series as a reality TV format to BBC 4. It didn’t happen but its an interesting short video to watch.
https://vimeo.com/123886243 Joe and Zara
In a break from shooting on Thursday I was brazen and gave Victor a copy of my novel, Current of Death. Why? Victor was the producer of The Morse series on ITV. Most crime dramas set in Oxford are filmed in central and North Oxford with occasional glimpses of the Cowley Rd. South of the city tends to be ignored. Kennington, where I live on the southern edge, is on a picturesque stretch of the Thames. But it has dangerous places. Jerome K Jerome said that Sandford Lasher is ‘the perfect place to drown yourself in’. Indeed many students drowned there including Peter Pan, at least JM Barrie’s adopted son who inspired the character. A great place for a whodunit… So I lie awake in hope… well no..’ but I am working on a sequel as some good reviews of Current of Death are coming in. (See below)
So there we are – lives connecting and reconnecting on Thursday 16 January 2025!
Reviews of Current of Death
https://promotingcrime.blogspot.com/2024/07/current-of-death-by-sylvia-vetta.html
Colin Wade sent me this great review by an Oxford Brookes student.
‘Sylvia Vetta’s crime fiction is a short but gripping read that tackles big issues like modern slavery, climate change, and diversity in the police force. Alex Hornby, a resident of Thames Reach and fellow crime author, stumbles upon a corpse floating in the River Thames. Set in the much-loved Thames Reach, the setting is so vividly described it feels like a character in its own right. Vetta’s passion for nature and the environment shines through on every page, offering a beautiful contrast to the gruesome murders at the heart of the story. The book is packed with quirky, memorable characters whose stories gradually intertwine as the plot unfolds. With two unexpected murders and even more unexpected killers, it’s fast-paced, thought-provoking, and hard to put down. A cosy yet modern crime novel that’s thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.’
What have Michael Rosen, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Professor Irene Tracey, Korky Paul, Paterson Joseph and me in common?
I love the Today programme during the Christmas period, when it has guest editors. Their choice of in depth subject matter is inspirational. First off was author and screenwriter, Frank Cottrell Boyce, on a subject dear to my heart – access to and the importance of books. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00268mh
He talked about books in a tactile way that gives joy. ‘A story can hold you in an embrace.’ He suggested that reading to your child is like a hug that will last the rest of your and his/her life. I am guilty of talking a lot about books for upward mobility because I wouldn’t be an author if I didn’t have access to a library as a child. It may seem that I’m forgetting the pleasure but the two are married. Michael Rosen, the famous children’s author, was the curator of stories at the Story Museum when I cast him away on Oxtopia. He told me that the evidence from everywhere in the world is that children who read for pleasure, do well academically. Read his castaway feature here:.Michael Rosen
I’m delighted that the Oxford Indie Book Fair is growing in size and in public awareness. Our aim is that books should be available to EVERYONE.Tomorrow the Today guest editor will be Professor Irene Tracey, the Vice Chancellor of Oxford University. She generously opened the Oxford Indie Book Fair in 2023.(Seen in the pic enjoying a joke with Korky Paul) Like Paterson Joseph, this year she represents what we want to stand for- inclusion and access to books for EVERYONE. Unlike previous Vice Chancellors, Irene was educated at a comprehensive school- Gosford Hill in Kidlington so she represents Town AND Gown. Most previous vice chancellors have been humanities graduates. Irene is a scientist. OXIB is about that kind of inclusion too – all knowledge, all genres for all ages. Books, art and illustration for knowledge but also for joy and lifelong friendship.
This year Paterson Joseph the actor and Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University opened the fair. He told me how he, like me, would not have had the career he has had without access to Willesden Library–Luton in my case.(See pic at the end) That is why I’m passionate about saving and creating libraries. In my memoir, there’s a chapter on how the illustrator Korky Paul helped us save 22 Oxfordshire Libraries from closure. At the memorial to broadcaster ,Bill Heine, the former Chair of OCC, Keith Mitchell told me that, when we invited him to tea, seeing us demonstrate the importance of libraries in the community helped change his mind . The Pied Piper Procession I organised was the novelist’s way – a case of Show not Tell. We didn’t lecture or hassle him but he had to listen while Korky read to the children. Here’s the chapter with the story :Chapter 30 The underestimated importance of libraries and reading
Korky is also patron of a project I initiated to build the first community Library in Musanda in west Kenya. We hope it will open at the end of 2025. As part of the project bringing our communities together, I produced Cosmic Cats – a book of stories by children from my village school and a school in west Kenya. The zoom launch linking the schools was filmed on South Today. You can watch it on this blog.
Oxford Indie Book Fair on Dec 1, the biggest in the country and a challenge!
Andy Severn, James Harrison Ray Foulk and I had a dream of an event for book lovers which was free to enter, welcoming of everyone whatever their age or background. I tell the story of how it all began on this link https://www.oxfordindiebookfair.co.uk/history/ Lots of pics on the website.
On Dec 1, the Fifth Oxford Indie Book Fair took place at the impressive Oxford University Examination Schools in the High Street. We believe it was the biggest Indie Book Fair in the country. ‘Indie’ is short for ‘Independent’ so our event supports small publishers as well authors, illustrators, artists, poets and publishing services. Go to the website and Exhibitor Directory to see who exhibited. I suspect that there are more authors per square mile in Oxford than anywhere else in the world. I’d love to put out a challenge to Oxford researchers to discover if my assumption is true. My fellow Oxib organiser, Ray Foulk, author of Stealing Dylan from Woodstock and other books wants oxib to go national in 2025.
The 150 exhibitors, the 1,500 visitors, the organisers, the Oxford Brookes student volunteers and Paterson Joseph, the actor, author and Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University who opened the Oxford Indie Book Fair on Sunday came away with the same impression –one of friendliness and welcome. Paterson Joseph was meant to stay for one hour but left, reluctantly, at 2pm for another engagement. He summed it up,
“I loved it more than I could have imagined! The welcome, the care taken of me, the infectious atmosphere of exhibitors, visitors and writers … inspiring is the perfect word. A great day all round. If you ever invite me again, I’ll make sure to stay longer and chat to more folks … and bring a bigger bag for the books I buy! Every member of your team is a star?”
We have tapped into a need. The oxygen of publicity goes to those books published by the big five. Traditional but small publishers like Claret Press who publish me and self -published authors struggle to be seen. Yet often they tell stories that need to be told. Telling the WHOLE story was the title of the talk I gave with Pen Farthing, whose reputation was trashed at the time of the chaotic exit from Afghanistan. Operation Ark – his side of the story is published by Claret Press. His previous big publisher wouldn’t publish it and no major paper was prepared to tell his side of the story.We believe in the need to know the ‘whole’ story and not just the version the powerful want you to hear. “Pen Farthing is still angry. It’s understandable” – Private Eye
Brushstrokes in Time by me is the only novel that tells the story of the revolutionary art movement at the heart of the birth of the Democracy Movement in China. When? 1989 ? No 1979! That’s why the story of these courageous artists needs to be known and only Claret Press in the UK was brave enough to publish it – because I am not ‘Chinese’! Journalist friends, Emma Woollacott and Gill Oliver were disappointed our talk was not LONGER!
Other speakers included the effervescent historian and TV presenter, Janina Ramirez interviewed by James Harrison and Hugh Warwick hot off the Infinite Monkey Cage in discussion with Rev Canon Charlotte Bannister Parker chaired by ‘green’ architect Ray Foulk.
Paterson told how he would not have had the career he has had without assess to a public library. So he was delighted that the County Library Service had a free stand as did the Abingdon based charity, the Nasio Trust who are building the first community library in a poor part of west Kenya.
There were lots to attract children and families, including activities provided by Korky Paul,Clive Goddard and Wild Boor. Non-fiction for children too .Rebecca Mileham, author of popular science most recent book is ‘Cracking the Elements‘ (2018) which takes a comprehensive look at the development of the periodic table – and reveals untold stories, unsung pioneers and intriguing science along the way.
Our aims:
‘We are a unique book fair based in Oxford that CELEBRATES Independent Creators—authors, writing groups, poetry writers and performers, local and independent bookshops, printers, publishing services, small press and independent publishers—all of whom bring fresh, original works to readers. We believe in Championing a Diversity of Voices across the cultural spectrum – embracing unique perspectives, genres, and backgrounds to enrich the literary landscape. OUR FAIR IS INCLUSIVE
We believe in Building a thriving community of readers, writers, and artists, rooted in local engagement and support. We believe in creating meaningful relationships between authors and readers, fostering a sense of community and shared passion for literature. OUR FAIR IS ABOUT COMMUNITY
We believe in Inspiring Lifelong Learning – Cultivating curiosity and intellectual growth through books, workshops, and discussions. OUR FAIR IS A NETWORKING EVENT’
Andy Severn, Felicity Dick, James Harrison, Ray Foulk, Shona Nicholson and Sylvia Vetta
To see the full programme go to
To buy copies of Oxford Castaways 2
Go to
http://www.oxfordfolio.co.uk
and click on the cover image.