Category Archives: Literature

The Mealie Mouthed Statement from the #Jaipur Literary Festival

I’ve just been sent this rather mealie mouthed statement, apparently from the Jaipur Literary Festival, in response to a protest by authors Hari Kunzru, Jeet Thayil and others. They read from The Satanic Verses at the festival after Salman Rushdie … Continue reading

Posted in Literature | 1 Comment

Where is Prageeth?

While the world turns and changes; while we thrill at global events; for some, life is in stasis. Continue reading

Posted in Human Rights, Literature, Sri Lanka | Leave a comment

Radio Litopia: A Town Named Sue

The Litopia online writers colony broadcasts several weekly podcasts on various aspects of writing and literature.  I was invited onto the Debriefer show, presented by Donna Ballman, to discuss the pressing issue of libel reform. You can listen to my … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Diary, Human Rights, Literature, London, Media | Leave a comment

#Egypt, The Most Important Data Nexus on the Planet

ecause this place, soon to be the most important data nexus on the planet, happens to be constructed virtually on top of the ruins of the Great Library of Alexandria. Continue reading

Posted in Egypt, History, Internet Philosophy, Literature | 1 Comment

Salman Rushdie at English PEN

Here’s a video we made of Salman Rushdie accepting the Golden PEN award from our outgoing president, Lisa Appignanesi. addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.robertsharp.co.uk%2F2010%2F12%2F09%2Fsalman-rushdie-at-english-pen%2F’; addthis_title = ‘Salman+Rushdie+at+English+PEN’; addthis_pub = ”;

Posted in Diary, Human Rights, Literature, Multiculturalism | 1 Comment

Crowdsourcing Clegg Commentary

It is surprising how often the act of yeilding some control of your content to The Cloud or The Rabble yeilds something true and pleasing Continue reading

Posted in Diary, Internet Philosophy, Liberal Democrats, Literature, UK | 3 Comments

Creativity in reading

The term ‘creative writing’ can actually have a negative effect on the people attending these workshops, because it implies that writing is the only creative act Continue reading

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The Long and Short of It

From The Guardian last week: “We think this will be the renaissance of the short story,” said novelist Sophia Bartleet, who came up with the idea for Ether Books’s app while desperate for something to read when travelling back and … Continue reading

Posted in Diary, Literature, Media | 1 Comment

Judging a Book by its Cover

An event report I wrote for the English PEN website. I’ll admit, I judged this event by its cover. I assumed that an discussion titled ‘Judging a book by its cover’ would be about book jacket design, rich and fertile … Continue reading

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Speech to the Society of Young Publishers

Publishing as a faith. Continue reading

Posted in Diary, Human Rights, Literature, Multiculturalism | 3 Comments