Facing west
Everything is politics. It has taken a war to wake me up to this truth. It’s not that I have…
The taming of Bucephalus
Bucephalus. Alexander the Great’s favourite steed. The most famous horse in history. Its name means ‘spirited and mettlesome’. (What does…
Why the war in Ukraine will turn us all into refugees.
Yesterday, my family joined about twenty other people – all Ukrainians or Russian emigres opposed to Putin’s regime – on…
Love IRL
Just as we settled down and the lights went out in the theatre, Tanya leaned over to me and whispered…
The hard smell of salt
The story below is written by Mel Sutovsky, a student of mine when I taught creative writing in the spring…
The punk peacock
I like peacocks. I am one myself. And I have one friend in particular who is a punk peacock. He…
A vicious friend
“You’ve never told me anything I wanted to hear.” Said one of my oldest and dearest friends. It was, I…
The way you look tonight
We had originally pulled up at a Spa which promised the danger signs of modern amenities. This wasn’t what we…
The boredom of uncle John
John was married to Betty. Betty had come over to England during WWII with the American armed forces and John…
Legends
Do you remember when the world felt safe? And everything was getting better and better. When life had a sheen…