Year of the story

This has been a year of stories – a year in which I’ve come to appreciate like never before the extent to which we lead our lives by, with and through stories. They provide the glue that holds us together, … Continue reading

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Through the wall

I’m looking at a picture of the Great Wall of China. It’s on a calendar given to me by my friend and acupuncturist Wenbo Xu. There are two crane-like birds in a meadow in the foreground. Beyond them the wall … Continue reading

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To the letter

Last week I spent a day with members of the housing team of a local authority. We were looking at the letters they send out to tenants on a variety of subjects, ranging from noise to rubbish to gardens to … Continue reading

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Listen to the child

Last weekend we ran part two of our series of personal insight workshops, The Stories We Tell. The first looks at what we can learn about ourselves from the stories we tell about where we have come from. The second … Continue reading

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Inner voices

Ten days ago I gave a talk to 20 Scottish judges as part of a two-day seminar on Judicial Writing and Reasoning. I was the cabaret on the second morning, a one-hour slot sandwiched between the Lord Justice Clerk who … Continue reading

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Indelible INK

We’re sitting in a darkened auditorium in an upmarket conference centre in Cochin. Outside, the sun beats down on the palm-fringed waterway that separates some of us from our hotel bedrooms. This is Kerala and everywhere the backwaters, as they’re … Continue reading

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Tyger! Tyger!

Ranthambore National Park, in eastern Rajasthan, is a cross between the Garden of Eden and the setting for Kipling’s The Jungle Book. A short (by Indian standards) train ride from Jaipur, it’s 150 square miles of gentle wooded hills, lakes … Continue reading

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Movies and Moghuls

There was a small tsunami of encouragement following my last week’s post about the possible film of The Witness. So much so, in fact, that I wondered whether some people might have taken it as a fait accompli – which … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness

It’s the email every writer dreams of getting: ‘I would like to make a film of your book.’ It came, out of the blue, at the beginning of July. And before you ask – no, it wasn’t Dreamworks or Working … Continue reading

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Nine years

It’s nine years since the very first Dark Angels course took place at the Arvon writers centre at Totleigh Barton in Devon. Even more amazingly, it seems to me, it’s seven since we held our first advanced course on the … Continue reading

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