Because of the extended lock-down we have been in – and continue to be in if you’re in Auckland – this Arts update is exclusively about the books that I have been reading during the lockdown. Eighteen books in all!! Yes, I could also write about the streamed shows I’ve looked at, but it’s my reading that has pre-occupied me. … Read More
I’m beginning this Arts review with my reading journey that included three of the novels short-listed for the 2021 International Booker Prize – two translated into English from French and one from Spanish. Subsequently, I read another seven novels from around the world: three from America, one from the UK, one from Egypt, one from Barbados and one from across … Read More
As usual, I’ve read a diverse range of books, watched a number of movies and seen some wonderful plays over the past few months, taking me to all corners of the world. One of the reasons I love all of these stories is because they introduce me to ideas and take me into places and characters I would never normally … Read More
I spent most of October reading the six short-listed novels for the 2019 Man Booker Prize: ‘The Testaments’ (Margaret Atwood); ‘Ducks, Newburyport’ (Lucy Ellmann); ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ (Bernadine Evaristo); ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’ (Chigozie Obioma); ‘Quichotte’ ( Salman Rushdie); ‘10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World’ (Elif Shafak). I commented on some of these in my last book blog, … Read More
Based on a belief that effective teachers of reading and writing should be interested in the art of reading and writing, I want to share Comments on The Arts with teachers on the books that I read, the movies that I watch and the theatre I attend. I hope to maybe interest you in books, films and plays that have … Read More