When I first meet the poet Inua Ellams, he is standing beside Nelson Mandela’s statue. Our little group of strangers is huddled in the doorway of London’s Southbank Centre, right beside…
Browsing Category
England
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My dad has spent his life working in the theatre. He’s acted, directed and stage managed; written plays, sketches and pantomimes; taught students, professionals and celebrities, and even met my mother…
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“We only predicted 18,000 people today…” Sandi Toksvig’s voice echoes through the cardboard placards which fill Trafalgar Square. Faces are turned towards the sun; banners flutter below Nelson’s column, flanked by…
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My mum once pierced her ears with a needle and an ice cube. Well, not exactly. Mum was eighteen, travelling in the US, and it was her American friends who happily volunteered…
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Challenges England Photography What the hell? WomenSea of Hull: Why I Got Naked & Blue with Three Thousand People
At 4am in a park in Hull, Spencer Tunick held up a megaphone and told me to strip. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only person he was talking to. The crowds of people…
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Have you ever seen a hundred naked human bodies? It started in Oslo, on a muggy summer Sunday with a hint of rain in the air. After two weeks on board…
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“Shall we walk home through the city?” Beverley and I had been out for lunch on a sunny Sunday in London’s Southbank, treating ourselves to burgers and beers beside a window…
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It’s finally springtime in London. Joggers and dog walkers are multiplying; people walk down the pavement with sunglasses and smiling faces. This morning I am sitting at a desk in the new…
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“Ooh, look! A partridge!” “… A pheasant, you mean?” Gill looked at me quizzically from the driver’s seat. On the grassy kerb beside my window, the long-tail-feathered bird twitched his bright…
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“Are there any good pubs on Whitstable beach?” The train conductor mutters something indecipherable as he hands a ticket back to the man asking questions. I’ve spent the last half hour…