This blog explores two books and an exhibition that elevate abandoned shopping lists and scraps of paper into art. Treasured rubbish Have you ever been fascinated by a discarded shopping list left in a supermarket trolley? Wondered who the person was who just wanted to buy milk, bleach and a birthday card? There’s something so […]
Read more...
Saving purple. It’s when you save your best things because they’re too special to use. It’s a concept invented by my friend Helen Fisher, a business psychologist. Here, she explains how the idea originated and discusses the upsides and downsides of ‘saving purple’ in your life. “I first remember thinking about saving purple when […]
Read more...
Have you heard about Friends on the Shelf? This beautifully designed independent magazine features real life stories from known and unknown writers. At the beginning of the latest issue, you have Harry Enfield writing about adopting a duckling; later on, you have me describing my brief foray into the world of naturism. Some stories are […]
Read more...
I recently made a phone call to ask a question I’d been too embarrassed to ask face-to-face. Here’s how it went. “Hello, this is the Balzac Museum.” “I have an unusual question for you.” “Yes?” “You know the cane in your museum that belonged to Balzac?” “Certainly.” “I remember visiting once and hearing a story […]
Read more...
“I was looking for another work by a female composer for our Spring concert,” says Thomas Payne, Musical Director of the London City Orchestra. “I stumbled across Grace Williams’ violin concerto on YouTube. I’d never heard of her or the concerto. It’s very rarely performed. “So I started listening and after about three or four […]
Read more...
When you look at photos of composer Ethel Smyth from the early 20th century, she cuts a distinctive figure. Iconoclastic, queer and a Suffragette, she had to fight to have her compositions heard at a time when female composers were relegated to musical footnotes. Conducting with a toothbrush My favourite story about her is the […]
Read more...
I promise myself I’m not going to cry. As the lights go down and the circle of musicians are illuminated, points of light emanating from their music stands, everyone falls silent. We hear the faint quavery voice of an old man singing, hardly audible, as if from the bottom of a well. The voice becomes […]
Read more...
In any wisely organised universe, a writing project for a whisky brand would involve much tramping through heather, gazing up at Scottish hillsides, admiring trickling burns, walking over ancient cobblestones, pushing through creaking warehouse doors, tiptoeing past sleeping casks and, you would hope, tasting a dram or two. Last spring, lockdown put paid to the […]
Read more...
Charity stories are an incredibly popular and powerful way to convey the essence of what a charity does while engaging with readers. It’s common to see charities using stories to lead radio appeals, donor appeals and cases for support. I’ve written a variety of stories for charity clients. For example: A Radio 4 charity appeal […]
Read more...
Have you heard about the musical duel between Harpo Marx and Sergei Rachmaninoff? Craig Brown recounts the story in One on One, his book about extraordinary encounters between famous people. (There’s a reason why I’m writing about this now. I’ll come to that later.) Harpo’s Hollywood retreat In 1931, Harpo Marx had taken an apartment […]
Read more...
“The other day, it was lunchtime, boiling hot, 23 degrees, and I was sitting in the park wearing my bikini,” says Joan, who’s 82. “A woman walked past and said, ‘How wonderful that you’re doing that. I wish I had the guts to do what you’re doing.’ And I said, ‘Do it! Why not?’ Nobody […]
Read more...
Once again, I was delighted to take part in a project with writers’ group 26 on behalf of the Bloomsbury Festival. This year, the theme is ‘Shining a light’. I chose to highlight a performance at the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury that will showcase the talents of rising singing stars. This piece first appeared here […]
Read more...
Since before the pandemic (hard to recall, I know), I’ve been working on the editorial team for a new book, Threads of Time. It celebrates 25 years of Fine Cell Work, the charity that helps rehabilitate prisoners by teaching them needlework skills. Our Crowdfunder for the book goes live today. Do please support this book […]
Read more...
A visit to Doughty Mews inspires a piece about Dickens for the 2020 Bloomsbury Festival. As part of a project for the Bloomsbury Festival with writers’ group 26, I was allocated a small square of the map in Bloomsbury, central London. “Go there, find a story and write about it,” they told me. I discovered […]
Read more...
Protecting the rainforests of Indonesia The Environmental Investigation Agency asked me to write a charity appeal to go to their supporters, highlighting an urgent situtation that was threatening the Indonesian rainforest. Using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse, the Indonesian Ministry of Trade announced that it was going to water down its timber laws. Environmentally, […]
Read more...