Excerpts and writing guidance from my family memoir about my father Earle Olsen's art career, especially in 1950s New York City. Plus other thoughts and tips on life, writing, life-writing, and the writing life....
Writing on writers - Nancy, Agatha, various Elizabeths and more. And on other things, from classical ballet to classic murder trials. Whatever interests me, and I hope you also.
A glimpse of distant horizons via "beautifully crafted essays and observations" covering literature, memoir, and faraway cities from a recovering cultural bureaucrat joining up the dots of an international life.
It's not just beauty which is in the Eye of the Beholder - I write about anything which catches my attention, as I amble through the worlds of art, history, politics and anywhere else I like.
My biography of Daniel and Alexander Macmillan, Literature for the People, is out now. I mostly write about books, authors and history, late 19th and early 20th century. Think Persephone and Virago?
I write my way through the nooks and crannies of the natural+human world - currently in Grenoble, France, gateway to the French Alps. Place, history, ecology, art.
The journal of an English woman in the French countryside. Creating a garden and rescuing a forgotten petit château, hidden amongst woodland and flower meadows.
Talking about food leads to talking about everything: recipes, family stories, culinary history, healthy eating tips, and holiday tales. I write about it all, plus some truly delicious Jewish treats like rugelach and hamantaschen. Don't miss it!
