Zappa and I

Zappa and I

I am spending January in a cottage in the Netherlands, volunteering for one of the most impressive NGOs I’ve come across (Against Child Trafficking) and listening to Zappa. I’m living alone and enjoying it so much that it...
The Shakespeare Soap Opera

The Shakespeare Soap Opera

Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool: The theatre is packed but I am alone. I’m watching the Merry Wives by Shakespeare and am enjoying it. But I’m not sure how to review it. How do you review a Shakespeare play? Hasn’t it all …
My Book Has a Life of its Own

My Book Has a Life of its Own

By Chris Burn They say you feel most alive at times of great stress and danger. Such as putting on a book promotion event. I sure feel alive today. The Edinburgh Book event at the Serenity Café is imminent and...
Poetry wasn’t my cup of tea.

Poetry wasn’t my cup of tea.

A Guest Post By Claudiu Revnic. When I was a teenager poetry and rhymes didn’t appeal unless it was in the form of a heavy guitar riff accompanied by a screaming, angry, disenchanted male voice. Poetry was the stuff of...
On the Road with Madame Bovary

On the Road with Madame Bovary

When I was a kid I used to mock the names of the great French authors Gustave Flaubert and Honoré de Balzac. I used to pronounce Flaubert as “Flow Bert” and Balzac as “Balls Ache.” I thought this was really …