Why Grant Holt should go to Euro 2012, in 5 goals
May15

Why Grant Holt should go to Euro 2012, in 5 goals

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Full disclosure, I’m a Norwich fan. But having had the pleasure of watching Grant Holt for three seasons now actually makes me more and more convinced that he could do a job for England this summer… if given the chance. I seriously doubt whether he will be, because Hodgson probably doesn’t need the grief from the press if he picks a ‘barrel chested former tyre fitter’ rather than someone who plays for one of the ‘big clubs’. But beyond the fact that he is without doubt the most on-form striker in the English Premier League this season behind Wayne Rooney (and he can’t play for the first two...

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Edgelands nominated for Ondaatje prize
May11

Edgelands nominated for Ondaatje prize

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It’s not the most high-profile of literary awards, but it must surely be the most esoteric. The Ondaatje Prize is awarded each year to the “book of the highest literary merit – fiction, non-fiction, poetry – evoking the spirit of a place”. This can mean almost anything can be nominated – last year’s winner was Edmund De Waal’s The Hare With The Amber Eyes (the Costa-winning book which investigated De Waal’s family history through his collection of Japanese netsuke). But Hisham Matar’s In The Country Of Men has also won in the past – a novel detailing the ordeal of a nine year...

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A spring of Arab fiction
May09

A spring of Arab fiction

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Copy: The National, Gulf Life, Vision,  The Observer This spring I’ve been busy with the International Prize For Arabic Fiction – colloquially known as the Arabic Booker - for a number of publications. First I spoke with one of the nominees, Ezzedine Choukri Fishere for Gulf...

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And the best league in Europe is…
May03

And the best league in Europe is…

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Copy: Sports Illustrated, May 2012 Tonight, the annual bunfight to get into “the best league in the world” begins with the Championship playoffs. But, actually, how good is the Premier League? This is what I investigated for Sports Illustrated this month – I went to see...

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Behind the scenes at patient Man City
May02

Behind the scenes at patient Man City

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Copy: Sports Illustrated, March 2012 >> Such are the vagaries of publishing deadlines that writing about Manchester City’s chances of winning the Premier League title in February was always likely to have an element of risk attached to it. Still, this week I was pretty pleased that...

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Keija Parssinen’s inside track on Saudi life
Mar14

Keija Parssinen’s inside track on Saudi life

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Copy: The National 13/03/12 >> CNN published an interesting story today on Saudi women. Entitled Pampered or Oppressed, it highlights the case of Samar Badawi, who served seven months in jail simply for disobeying her father. Earlier this month, she was given the 2012 International...

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Dreams still coming true
Mar13

Dreams still coming true

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Copy: The National 07/03/12 >> Really fascinating to read that the highest-earning British musical act in the US last year wasn’t Adele. Or Coldplay. It was, incredibly, Sade. I genuinely don’t think I’ve heard anything by her since Your Love Is King. Or maybe I’m...

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A WONDERFUL TOWN FOR COLLABORATION
Feb29

A WONDERFUL TOWN FOR COLLABORATION

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Copy: Creative Times 28/02/12 >> What pushed the Halle Orchestra, The Lowry and The Royal Exchange – three of Greater Manchester’s best arts organisations – together for the forthcoming production of Leonard Bernstein’s Wonderful Town? In this piece I wrote for...

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