@helenwatsonwriter.bsky.social
Nature, people & travel on the edge. Seeking an agent or publisher for my book 'Tea and Grit' about cycling across Syria, Iran & Central Asia and how I came to work on community refugee sponsorship. https://helenwatsontravelwriting.blogspot.com/
A great joy last night to present Elif Safak with the @stanfordstravel.bsky.social Prize for the Best Fiction Book with a Sense of Place - for her wonderful There Are Rivers In The Sky. A great night supported by @vikingcruises.bsky.social
06.03.2025 14:05 β π 15 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
It is with great sadness to hear that the great Tim Radford has died. He was, unequivocally, the best science journalist, and a kind and generous man. I used his Manifesto for the Simple Scribe in lectures for student this very week. Itβs faultless.
www.theguardian.com/science/blog...
If only there were a book, I hear you say, about the reality of the special relationship and the folly of relying on the Americans as allies.
01.03.2025 07:48 β π 175 π 44 π¬ 11 π 3
The best short piece I've read on Trump's new Predator America- Brilliant and crucially important @FT editorial
America has turned on its friends - on.ft.com/3ERSO6o via @FT
Reading this right now and can't put it down. Beautifully written and utterly devastating at the same time.
20.02.2025 06:11 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Highly recommend this lovely book about learning to embrace winter.
19.02.2025 09:24 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Love this book!
19.02.2025 09:23 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
After years of censorship, once-banned books are now resurfacing in Damascus, marking a new chapter of freedom in a city that was once controlled by fear π
17.02.2025 12:27 β π 25 π 7 π¬ 0 π 0This Is Just To Say
I have eaten
the books
that were in
the library
and which
you were probably
saving
for dessert
Forgive me
they were nutritious
so ink
and so paper
We are alarmed and shocked by the arrest and detainment of our author and colleague Mahmoud Muna, along with his nephew Ahmad Muna, owners and booksellers of Jerusalemβs Educational Bookshop.
Please share our statement below widely.
π¨ LIVESTREAM π¨
The Future of Syria πΈπΎ
Rory & Alastair are joined by Syria expert, David McCloskey, to dissect their recent interview with the new President of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and what it all means for the future of the Middle East.
ποΈ Friday 14th February
β° 3pm UK time
Link below π
Always love to pop into the #UrsaMinorBakehouse for great coffee and cake and to say hi to this wonderful piece of art by Julian Friers julianfriers.com when in #Ballycastle #Pangolin
15.02.2025 15:34 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Our Book of the Week is the Penguin Book of Pirates, edited by Katherine Howe - a fantastic compilation of primary sources from the golden age of high-seas banditry. Order your copy here: www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/stock/the-pe...
14.02.2025 10:54 β π 21 π 5 π¬ 0 π 2
Strawberries Edwin Morgan There were never strawberries like the ones we had that sultry afternoon sitting on the step of the open french window facing each other your knees held in mine the blue plates in our laps the strawberries glistening in the hot sunlight we dipped them in sugar looking at each other not hurrying the feast for one to come the empty plates laid on the stone together with the two forks crossed and I bent towards you sweet in that air in my arms abandoned like a child from your eager mouth the taste of strawberries in my memory lean back again let me love you let the sun beat on our forgetfulness one hour of all the heat intense and summer lightning on the Kilpatrick hills let the storm wash the plates
There were never strawberries
like the ones we had
that sultry afternoon
sitting on the step
of the open french windowβ¦
βEdwin Morgan, βStrawberriesβπ
published in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2020
#ValentinesDay #poetry #LGBTQ #LGBTQplusHM25 π³οΈβππ³οΈββ§οΈ
www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/inde...
When you go Edwin Morgan When you go, if you go, and I should want to die, there's nothing Iβd be saved by more than the time you fell asleep in my arms in a trust so gentle I let the darkening room drink up the evening, till rest, or the new rain lightly roused you awake. I asked if you heard the rain in your dream and half dreaming still you only said, I love you.
When you go,
if you go,
and I should want to die,
thereβs nothing Iβd be saved by
more than the time
you fell asleep in my armsβ¦
βEdwin Morgan, βWhen You Goβ π«
in CENTENARY SELECTED POEMS, @carcanet.bsky.social 2020
#ValentinesDay #poetry #LGBTQ #LGBTQplusHM25 π³οΈβππ³οΈββ§οΈβ€οΈ
www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/inde...
Congratulations to the winner of the 2024 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize, for translations into English of full-length Arabic language works.
Katharine Halls for Rotten Evidence by Ahmed Naji (McSweeneyβs)
#TranslationPrizes
Huge response to interview with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Over 500k views Arabic version.
For subtitles
1.Turn on 'Subtitles/closed captions (c)'
2. Go to the settings cog
3. Select 'Subtitles/CC'
4. Select 'Auto Translate'
5. Choose your language from the options. youtu.be/edBAP-ihMR4
A fab story Anna!
07.02.2025 12:17 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0"sharp chalk of the moon" π nice
05.02.2025 05:08 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I was hoping you two would land that interview! Looking forward to listening in.
05.02.2025 05:02 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Hello from Syria
Hi from Damascus. Fascinating interview for podcast with fighter turned president of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa. We discuss on @therestpolitics.bsky.social tomorrow and full interview on LEADING on Monday. A few fabulous trees thrown in. Pic 2 Tree of the Day. 100 years old according to the man at base
04.02.2025 16:04 β π 405 π 26 π¬ 18 π 10
Working away in arid lands again this week. I am always struck by how green the #desert is where it is touched by #water. #travelwriting helenwatsontravelwriting.blogspot.com/2012/05/true...
02.02.2025 15:08 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Been thinking about this one recently for some reason #Brecht #TheGodofWar written about a certain WW2 dictator.
31.01.2025 06:42 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Coming back home over #Drumochter on the Scotrail from #Edinburgh yesterday reminded me of this, written some time ago... #Inverness ohyes π helenwatsontravelwriting.blogspot.com/2025/01/inve...
#Highlands #Scotland #longdistanceromance
I still can't quite believe that Assad is no longer in #Syria. My experience of surveillance when cycling to #Palmyra #Tadmor in 2010... before the war.
P.S. The full story is in my book (publisher wanted). #cycletouring #silkroad #travelwriting
helenwatsontravelwriting.blogspot.com/2017/03/dese...
helenwatsontravelwriting.blogspot.com/2024/11/tagh...
The #Scottish #Highlands have turned to slush today- wishing I was winter surfing in #Morocco again! #poetry #travelwriting
