The Art of Reading in the 21st Century

Poetry translation
Here is my latest blog for Booktrust:

The UK celebrated World Book Day last Thursday and it got me thinking about the nature of reading in modern times.

Although there’s no doubting the pleasure of reading a hard copy of a book, the internet has clearly revolutionised our access to foreign language books, both in the original language and in translation. Project Gutenberg and its vast collection of ebooks has long made it a valuable resource for people looking for texts in translation, original prose and even related literary criticism.

Published on 15-03-11. Read on here

Lands of Opportunity: Latin American exploration market

Here is my first article published in IBA Global Insight:

The drama surrounding the rescue of 33 miners in northern Chile has highlighted the great potential in the country’s mining industry as well as the Latin American exploration market.

Latin America has long been known as a mineral rich continent. Nevertheless, periods of economic, political and social instability have discouraged foreign companies from investment. On 13 October, 33 miners were rescued after being trapped for 66 days in the collapsed San José mine in northern Chile. The story captured worldwide attention and turned what could have been a major blow for the country and its mining industry into a global success story. Both the rescue and the euphoria it provoked are telling of the great potential and interest in both Chile and the Latin American market as a whole.

Published on 15-02-11. Read on here

In discussion: The Anatomy of a Moment by Javier Cercas

Here is my latest blog for Booktrust:

On Monday evening I attended a talk by Javier Cercas chaired by Antony Beevor at the Southbank Centre. Cercas was speaking about his new book The Anatomy of a Moment (La Anatomia de un instante), which describes an incident in February 1971 when a group of around 200 soldiers and members of the Civil Guard stormed the lower house of the Spanish Parliament.

Published on 11-02-11. Read on here

Javier Cercas’ award-winning account of 23-F to commemorate thirtieth anniversary

Here is my latest blog for Booktrust:

Javier Cercas

Although we may hear little about Spanish fiction in the UK, we arguably hear even less about Spanish history written by Spanish writers themselves. Hispanists in this country are well acquainted with the likes of Raymond Carr, Hugh Thomas, Paul Preston and Antony Beevor, but will probably not associate Spanish writer Javier Cercas with non-fiction.

Published on 17-01-11. Read on here

Decades of neglect led to this Northern Ireland water crisis

northern ireland water

Here is my latest article published in the Guardian:

Witnessing thousands queue in the cold and dark over the past two nights to collect water from depots across Northern Ireland, I’ve found it hard to understand how things could have gone this far. One member of the public described it as “scandalous”, a second as “unacceptable”, while others are speechless as to how to describe the current water crisis that has left about 80 towns and 36,000 homes without running water. Understandably, the public are angry and want somebody to blame. However, the crisis reveals more than just a lack of a foresight, but also longstanding neglect.

Published on 30-12-10. Read on here

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