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Togo: the writer I’d most like to meet
I knew I had to read Tété-Michel Kpomassie’s book as soon as I saw his Wikipedia entry. Being forced to join a snake cult after a childhood run-in with a jungle python would be more than enough of a...
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Palau: a world apart
From very early on in the year, this country of around 21,000 people spread over 250 islands, 500 miles east of the Philippines distinguished itself as the most difficult Pacific island nation to find...
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An extraordinary holiday read
When I came up with the idea of reading the world in a year back at the end of 2011, I could never have predicted where the project would lead. I certainly never dreamed it would help Steve and me...
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Togo story to hit the big screen
In the 16 months or so since I finished my year of reading the world, I’ve been delighted to hear how the project continues to generate interest and have unexpected consequences. From booklovers...
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Gearing up for the US launch
Excitement is building in my little south London flat. It’s now less than two weeks until the publication of The World Between Two Covers: Reading the Globe, the US edition of my book inspired by my...
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World bookshopper: #3 The Book Cellar, St George’s
If you want to go to The Book Cellar in Bermuda, you have to pick your moment carefully. The first time I visit this store, located in 265-year-old Tucker House on Water Street in St George’s, it is...
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World bookshopper: #4 Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights, Bath
Picture a classic, old-fashioned bookshop: square-paned windows, handsome wooden bookcases, lots of nooks and crannies in which to escape into stories. Now imagine that this space has been given over...
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World bookshopper: #5 Word on the Water, London (various locations)
So far, I’ve had to go to all the bookshops I’ve featured in this series. But this week, a bookshop came to me. I was doing some work for a client in Haggerston in east London, a stone’s throw from...
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World bookshopper: #6 Three Lives & Company, New York
Bookshops, I’m beginning to discover, are as interconnected as books. They refer to one another, inspire one another and sometimes share creators. And with the help of all sorts of international...
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World bookshopper: #8 Altaïr, Barcelona
If Stanfords travel bookshop had a Catalan cousin, it would look a lot like Altaïr. On the day I go, wandering in off the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes and away from the Sant Jordi crowds, I find...
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New TEDx talk: what I learned reading a book from every country
Earlier this month, I was honoured to be one of the speakers at TEDx Hanoi. Taking place at the city’s United Nations International School, the day-long event presented a fascinating collection of...
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Brahmaputra Literary Festival
This project has led to many extraordinary experiences for me. From speaking at TED Global and delivering TEDx talks in Geneva and Hanoi to having a book translated specially for me by a team of...
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Literary adventures in Amsterdam
This week saw me heading to Amsterdam. I went there at the invitation of international bestselling Belgian author Annelies Verbeke. She has been the writer in residence, or Vrije Schrijver, at VU...
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Meeting Siphiwo Mahala
The first full week of the new decade brought a treat for me: a chance to meet Siphiwo Mahala, author of the short-story collection African Delights, which was my South African pick during my 2012...
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My conversation with a living legend
Back in March 2012, when I posted about my Togolese pick for my year of reading the world, I said that Tété-Michel Kpomassie was the writer I would most like to meet. Little did I know then that,...
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