Last week I got this email from a friend, "I'm reading Fifty Shades of Grey at the moment... you would love it!" That was it, that was all it said, no hello, no how are you, not even any reasoning behind it. This would be odd enough, but what was...
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We left Austin and the mania of SXSW with sore heads, dashed through an airport or two and found ourselves in the northwest, Portland, OR.
I took a little rest and stayed out of town with family and met the boys in Portland early on Monday. After...
E-readers on the shelves at Waterstone's? Head for the hills, lovers of real books! Do not turn back, lest thee be turned into a pillar of salt.
OK, enough of my mock gravitas and Biblical allusions, though judging by the outrage across the blogosphere this week, many British...
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After months of refurbishment work, Leicester Square, renowned for hosting world-class film festivals and premieres in the heart of London, unveiled a new look at a glitzy red-carpet event on 23 May attended by a bevy of local government politicos, including the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The redesigned square...
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In 2009 I was asked to be one of the Orange Prize for Fiction judges. I loved it. Although my boyfriend groaned every time I opened another book, I revelled in it. As I charged through the 30 or so books I was sent over in a large...
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Last week, there was an academic conference at the University of St Andrews dedicated to the Harry Potter series of books. Over 50 academics gathered to discuss J.K. Rowling's books, and apparently this caused quite a stir among people who think that children's literature is not worthy of study.
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I write this, my first Huffington Post UK blog, sat in a bedroom full of Ikea furniture circa 1992 in the gay quarter of Manchester - this is what 'on tour' means in 2012. I've been making my directorial debut with Unhappy Birthday an immersive theatre show I've been working...
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In rising middle-class neighbourhoods of London, an author-journalist friend notices a pronounced dwindling of 'creative' types among parents comparing his older son's class to that of his young daughter. Bankers, fund managers and lawyers seem to have crowded out journalists, academics and artists from Clapham to Muswell Hill. Is this...
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Magic and animals seem to have been the major themes of my favourite books whilst growing up, and luckily I can find both in Oz! But there was another witch that whet my appetite for magic at an early age, and she is Mildred Hubble, the main character in Jill...
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Travelling to Naples I was lucky enough to meet with artist French- Italian artist Paul Thorel. He is having his first solo show in Paris in June and this was a truly unique opportunity to speak to someone who embraced the use of digital manipulation in art way...
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The word penumbra is often rendered "half-light." The Latin origin paene umbra literally means "almost shadow." In between the shadow and the light there is a zone through which we may see what is in the penumbra, but we see it with this darkened...
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I am lucky enough to live in London, where the sheer number of museums, galleries and theatres mean it's almost impossible not to find yourself visiting places from time to time.
This time last year, however, I was managing just that - unconsciously dodging anything that resembled a cultural...
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Public art is once again in the forefront of people's minds with the upcoming Olympics in London. Outside the stadium in Stratford rises the AncelorMittal Orbit which will be the tallest sculpture and the largest piece of public art in the UK. Standing at 115 meters tall the sculpture by...
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I'm not a geologist, vulcanologist nor even a phenomenologist but I've spent a lot of time in the last few years reading about and watching Vesuvius, mostly online or in the media, and once or twice on the spot, while writing a book on its enduring fascination.
Whether it was...
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This is a guest post from Lindsey Braidley, Learning and Programmes Co-ordinator for Heritage Services at Bath & North East Somerset Council. Lindsey describes how her team organised their Museums at Night event in collaboration with local college students.
Since 2008 we've worked with our local Museums Group...
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At the Borough Museum and Art Gallery in Newcastle under Lyme we are beavering away preparing for the biggest evening of our year, Museums at Night - this year our event is 'Return Of The Leeches!'
This is the third year we have run the event,...
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In February, Museums at Night festival organisers Culture24 announced their 'Authors for Museums at Night' programme, bringing writers into Museums at Night 2012 venues in partnership with the Reading Agency - and an exciting opportunity arose for Surgeons' Hall Museum.
For me, the author...
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Saturday 19th May will mark Kew Bridge Steam Museum's first foray into the Museums at Night festival of after-hours events at museums and galleries.
This isn't to say that we haven't had dark and spooky night-time tours before, but there is something different about organising...
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Museums at Night is the annual after-hours festival of culture and heritage, which explodes into life each year on the weekend nearest to International Museums Day.
This year it will take place on Friday 18, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 May - and it looks set to be the biggest...
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Having spent a wet afternoon in Richmond Park earlier this week flag waving HRH the Queen on her royal progression to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, I did feel for the drenched military and community entourage. However the apocalyptic rain was also a feature in France for the inauguration...
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