a collection of short literary or philosophical extracts
Not all ideas fit neatly into the pages of a book. When I see, hear or read something that moves me—a news story, a snippet of conversation, a musical phrase, a storyline or cityscape—I capture the thoughts it provokes by jotting them down. From art and sports—whether Wimbledon or the World Cup—to politics, love and war, all topics have the potential to spark my imagination.
In an era when war was romanticized, Wilfred Owen, an Englishman and First World War soldier, became the greatest of poets by denouncing that lie. Owen described the horror he witnessed: “If in some...
Here in Canada, the Land of Oz, we are told that our law-enforcement squads will not pursue a vehicle if doing so could endanger the life of the driver or that of the wider community. Its number...
Each evening at 8 p.m., I deposit my mobile phone in the freezer and retire to bed. For the next hour, I read at least one chapter from each of five books. How do I choose them? Something that...
On 8 December 2025, Lai Chee-ying, also known as Jimmy Lai, spent his seventy-eighth birthday in solitary confinement, a guest of the People’s Republic of China. At the age of twelve, Lai entered...
Sir Anthony Hopkins, an actor from Port Talbot, Wales—a town boasting a population of just 31,550—has been honoured with two Academy Awards, four BAFTAs, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Laurence...
I have two favourite films. Yesterday, I took the afternoon off to watch Casablanca. It is December 1941. The Germans have overrun Europe. Refugees flood Casablanca, desperate to obtain passes for...
“Rapa, poom, poom, poom.” “Rapa, poom, poom, poom.” We can hear the sousaphones pumping from ten blocks away, off Frederick Street, Nassau. It’s Junkanoo time in The Bahamas. “Hurry up, kids — and...
When my kids were kids, our favourite time of day was reading to them at bedtime. Coming from England, I inundated them with The Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,...
My mum—“She Who Must Be Obeyed”—divorced when I was five and took me with her to England. My dad remained in Tanzania, working for East African Airways. Every school break, Dad sent me free tickets...
Fat Charlie, the Archangel, sloped into the room. “Have I got good news for you! A job that’ll pay you five thousand dollars a month.” To his associates, Charlie was regarded more as a grey angel —...
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Emil Rem, an eccentric accountant becomes a writer of eccentric characters, in exotic locales—each chapter taking us on a trip into his fascinating twisted world. Born to a close knit, middle class Muslim East Indian family in Dar-es-Salam, Africa in the 50’s, he is then moved to Maidenhead England at the age of five. The next twenty years are spent shuttling between England and East Africa, wearing a St. Christopher’s cross one minute and attending church, to wearing a green armband and attending Muslim religious classes in Africa the next. Moving to Canada, marrying a woman from the Philippines and having two boys only adds further texture to his stories.
