News
The long slow death of ‘social media’
A couple of days ago I was on the bus from Piazzale Roma to Marco Polo airport. In front of me were a young couple, gleefully passing between them an iPad of the photos they’d taken in Venice over the previous few days. It was all so public those
Bye bye Twitter... the Nazi salute really seals it for me
I joined Twitter in 2007 when it was tiny and no one knew what it was for. Over the last eighteen years it's provided me with lots of interesting friends, countless fascinating facts and threads, free advice from helpful strangers and the odd nutcase who needed to be
Fishbourne Literary Festival April 5, 2025
I'll be opening the festival in the beautiful setting of Fishbourne Church in Sussex on Saturday morning at 10 am. It's quite a programme, with a great range of authors. Hope to see some of you there. I'll be talking about the background to
The story behind When The Germans Come
My latest tale may come as a bit of surprise to readers. It’s set not in Italy but a few miles from my home in England. In the town of Dover, a funny place that’s always sat at the edge of the country it seems to me, misunderstood,
A Chat with Robin Saikia
Long-term resident Robin Saikia is the author of Drink and Think Venice, a unique insight into the city he’s made his home. I was lucky to stop by at his home in San Marco today for a chat about many things Venetian… including his preferred kind of spritz. Which
Philip Gwynne Jones, the accidental novelist
In the space of a few short years, Philip Gwynne Jones has become the most prolific British writer based in Venice, writing about the city. Apologies for calling him English in this interview… he is, of course, Welsh! I had the chance to talk to him one sunny, chilly February
Robin Saikia's Drink and Think Venice
There are lots of conventional tourist guides to Venice. Robin Saikia’s Drink & Think Venice, just out from Blue Guide, is not one of them. Let’s be honest. Whatever particular flavour of conventional guidebook you choose, what you get is pretty much the same info regurgitated in different
Gregory Dowling on The Lover of No Fixed Abode
In Venice I've been lucky enough to spend time with Gregory Dowling, author of the Alvise Marangon novels and translator of a Venetian classic, The Lover of No Fixed Abode, now available for the first time in English from Bitter Lemon Press. Gregory is a fascinating chap, Professor
