Yesterday, I heard a familiar voice on the radio. It was an old friend of mine from Gaza. Her name is Najla Shawa. She was being interviewed from Gaza city by the BBC World Service. The presenter introduced her like this: “Now we are going to talk to a Palestinian mother in Gaza. Najla is […]
STOP PRESS – Breaking News!!
I am delighted to share this exciting news with you. All of you! Meet Me in Gaza has just been shortlisted for a Literary award! The Memo Palestine Book Award is an annual prize for the best book about Palestine published in English. The prize will be announced in London in November. I’ll probably still […]
In which I muse on Ironmongery, Central Africa and Guerrillas
There were always going to be eruptions of ire, anger and glee when Margaret Thatcher died. Last Monday I was in an Oxfam bookshop in a posh corner of London, buying a collection of short stories from a middle-age man in a luminous pink pullover, when he was suddenly distracted from the job in hand […]
In Which I Introduce My New Blog
Ladies and gentlemen, renegades and travellers – this is my new blog. It is the first blog I’ve ever written… and I put it off for too long, because I didn’t really know where to begin. But you have to start somewhere. So here goes. It has been quite a week, with one thing and […]
