Author. Travel Writer. Seven of Nine.
In August last year, I was asked to speak at a conference of around 700 people. The organiser – let’s call him Jack – emailed … Read more
Earlier this week, I was listening to a podcast when the host asked his guest: ‘Did you have a happy childhood?’ The guest sighed – … Read more
Poverty is a strange thing. As a child, I thought of Oliver Twist or the sooty cheeks of a chimney sweep whenever I happened to … Read more
Years ago, I was watching the film Quantum of Solace in a charmless London cinema. As MI6 agent Strawberry Fields greeted James Bond on screen, I leaned over to my boyfriend and said, “Bless her, she’s trying really hard with the accent.”
Later, he asked what I meant by this. I shrugged. “It’s obvious the actress isn’t posh,” I said. “She was trying a bit too hard.”
My Kindle clippings are a huge great mess of things: information I want to keep, scraps of prose that make me weep, and words I’ve … Read more
My most embarrassing work-related mistake happened not long after graduation. While working on a presentation with eminent epidemiologist Professor Nicholas Wald, I paused on an … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, as A-level students began their scramble for the last university places, I read a statistic that made me want to … Read more
This week I was given the formidable task of convincing kids in Tower Hamlets that reading actually is quite important. Those of you have read … Read more
I get pissed off about a lot of things (as many of you know) but yesterday that went beyond the customary grumble and moan. Yesterday … Read more