Chris Keil is coming to Tavira in December! He has kindly agreed to do a reading at Lura dos Livros on Monday 3rd December. He is also going to run a writing workshop on Tuesday 4th December 10am -1pm The workshop will cover, how he writes, how to write narrative, dialogue and much much more, also lots of tips and ideas!! After the workshop…
CAR Hills has a love/hate relationship with Portugal and the Algarve in particular. We are very pleased that he is willing to read from some of his early essays and recent work on September 17th at Lura dos Livros in Tavira. Charles has been a writer all of his colourful life. He wrote a series…
We are now in Rio, in Santa Teresa in the Bianca guest house which overlooks Sugar Loaf mountain. From my window I can see the cable car going from one side of the mountain to another mountain. Having seen the plumbing and the electricity cables hanging precariously all over Brazil, I wonder how that…
As I write this, it is raining in Paraty. It is still beautiful, but its cold. The weather also occupied the mind of one of the writers I saw on day 5. Hanif Kureishi, (English mother, Pakistani father), grew up in Britain in the 1970’s. He said he “started writing to stop going mad”. He…
The day started with a press conference with Ian McEwan. He was his gentle mediative self and shared his love of Brazil. He first came to Brazil with his son in 2004 and his son said at the time Paraty had been the best 15 hours in Ian`s diary. His son, Gregory met a girl…
On Day 3, I attended a mix bag of sessions. The first session celebrated the poems of Drummond. In the next session Stephen Greenblatt and James Shapiro, shared their love of Shakespeare. Later in the day, Granta provided the space for two British writers to reflect on what being British means. Two Middle Eastern writers…
Trying to work in Paraty has so far been a frustrating experience. The main event last night, which was sold out many weeks ago, was not the most compelling experience I had hoped it would be, having read some good things about Paraty. I am hoping today will be better. The organisational issues for…
The population of Paraty swells from 35,000 to 100,00 today, as book enthusiasts overwhelm the town. The opening ceremony starts at 7pm Brazil time, which is 4 hours behind the UK and Portugal. The programme went on the Flip website a few days ago and paper copies were available yesterday. The Portuguese are notorious…
Monica Ali – In the Kitchen Feisty and tough, is how Monica Ali characterises herself. She is a novelist who creates controversy because she has the audacity to be both Asian and a woman who puts the spotlight on racism and inequality in modern Britain. She was born in Dhaka, Pakistan in 1967, to a…