Wonder-full

By |2020-12-07T14:34:37+00:00March 29th, 2017|

Great to be part of the One Book, One Tuam reading drive this week. Schoolchildren, […]

Beyond words

By |2020-12-07T14:35:18+00:00March 24th, 2017|

A big cheer for Silent Books. This travelling exhibition of more than 100 wordless picture […]

Superseekers

By |2020-12-07T14:32:45+00:00March 22nd, 2017|

One of the highlights of my week is working with the children of asylum seekers […]

Terrific tales

By |2020-12-07T14:31:03+00:00December 9th, 2016|

After the sobering choice of xenophobia* as the Dictionary.com word of the year, what a […]

Nearly there Folks

By |2020-12-07T14:30:27+00:00November 27th, 2016|

Twigs, wigs, cardboard axes and glittery wings … props are flying round the classroom as […]

Shouting

By |2020-12-07T14:29:56+00:00November 21st, 2016|

There’s a lot of it about. Shouting sisters, shouting brothers, shouting fathers, shouting mothers, get […]

Younger and wiser

By |2020-12-07T14:29:56+00:00November 13th, 2016|

Amid all the Trumpery this week (was ever a name so perfect? The Oxford English […]

Upside downs

By |2020-12-07T14:27:44+00:00November 3rd, 2016|

Words are the most beautiful, precious, miraculous gifts of humanity. They’re also the most annoying […]

Word nerdery

By |2020-12-07T14:27:08+00:00October 4th, 2016|

There are two kinds of people in the world. Trump supporters and … no. People […]

A fine reward

By |2020-12-07T14:27:06+00:00September 22nd, 2016|

I have to write about traffic wardens. I’ve tried to avoid it for ages. But […]

Walls of fame

By |2020-12-07T14:24:52+00:00August 9th, 2016|

First impressions can be surprisingly accurate, though they often get buried with time and familiarity. […]

Magic rules

By |2020-12-07T14:24:44+00:00August 3rd, 2016|

It’s a tricky one, magic. Who doesn’t love a slice of the impossible in a […]

Dorytime

By |2020-12-07T14:24:34+00:00July 27th, 2016|

One more day and she’ll be swimming across Irish screens again, that ditzy fish from […]

Genius blues

By |2020-12-07T14:24:25+00:00July 10th, 2016|

There’s something spine-tickling about seeing a Michelangelo sculpture in the flesh, or rather pale, silky […]

Brave new worlds

By |2020-12-07T14:22:38+00:00June 23rd, 2016|

Books that come to life to fight leprechauns, one-legged grannies with swords made from verrucas, […]

Momentous

By |2020-12-07T14:22:16+00:00June 14th, 2016|

The dictionary defines momentous as ‘very important or significant, especially in having a bearing on […]

The eyes have it

By |2020-12-07T14:21:51+00:00May 26th, 2016|

The French writer and all round clever-clogs Montaigne described a close shave at his 16th […]

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