Sophie Blackall at the Brooklyn Public Library
Like any nosy New Yorker, I first encountered Sophie Blackall on the subway. I most often ride the F line, and found myself pleasantly…
Why reading is social rather than solitary
Although reading is termed solitary, some of my best times on holiday have been when we've been sitting beside each other, each…
The worst job in the world
When Barack Obama was elected US President in 2008 “The Onion” ran the headline “black man given nation’s worst job”. Much as…
The reflection of read things
The enthralling The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (1997) is what I’ll be musing about. I read the novel earlier…
No internet. No phone. One month.
OK, I’m off! Bags are packed, tickets printed, taxi is booked for four thirty tomorrow morning, and several alarms have been set.…
The Murder of Halland by Pia Juul
The book begins with a murder. Soon detectives are on the scene, and the victim’s life is being unravelled piece by piece, revealing a…
Achieve happiness, in three easy steps?
I was in an American-style steak house here in Barbados a few weeks ago, trying to write but being distracted instead by…
Do you want to write for me?
I'm going on a little trip around other islands of the Caribbean for a month or so in June and July, and…
The Body is a Temple by Luke Bitmead
First of all, I should declare an interest. As regular readers will know, I won the Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary in 2008,…