Memoir
Grief, My Father and Home
On Father’s Day Sian Rees was thinking of her late dad Gareth and reflecting on her process of grief. I just read a piece of your writing. You were reflecting on home and what that [… read more ]
Memoir
Memoir
Pompey Bar Room Banter 8: Smouldering Eric and the Fifth Hants
The Fifth Hants Volunteer Arms – or the Fifth Hants as it is frequently referred to – stands tall in the landscape, and whilst not dominating the street, it is surely synonymous with it. It [… read more ]
Memoir
The Snow Leopard: A Portsmouth Cat Tale
Writer and planetary modeller David Angus shares a feline story of deception and aggression. Spring had arrived and the warmth of late March brought the trees out in bloom, then cold winds in April inhibited [… read more ]
Memoir
From the Isle of Wight to Oliver!
It’s Portsmouth Harbour, and veteran journalist Peter Gruner is about to climb aboard the 700 Stagecoach bus to the glorious South Downs and then to Chichester for a matinee of the musical Oliver! Here’s what [… read more ]
Memoir
From Portsmouth to Mass Protest: a Personal Account of XR’s ‘The Big One’
Local resident Rachel Claire Birchley gives a personal and passionate account of her experience of attending the Extinction Rebellion (XR) mass protest in London in April 2023, part of XR’s ‘Unite to Survive’ campaign, centring [… read more ]
Memoir
Erinsborough, Hayling Island
Writer and S&C founding editor Tom Sykes and illustrator Louis Netter are publishing a book next March entitled Coast of Teeth, a travelogue of 21 English seaside towns in an age of anxiety and absurdity. [… read more ]
Memoir
Letters to My Mother from Apartheid South Africa
From 1974 to 1978, Gosport-based writer and planetary modeller David Angus lived in South Africa. Here he shares the letters he wrote to his mother relating his experiences of hard labour, riots and the appalling [… read more ]
Memoir
From Snooty Wine Mums to Foul Odours: A Bartender Rambles from Surrey to Portsmouth
From March until the last day of August 2020, Portsmouth-based writer Morgan Turner was one of the many volunteers who were rounded up to help deliver groceries, collect medicines, and return parcels for the vulnerable, [… read more ]
Memoir
Border Crossings: Anxiety and Danger
Portsmouth-born travel writer and cultural observer Sian Rees recalls a nerve-racking journey across the Mexico-Guatemala border, which led to deeper reflections on the meaning of identity, culture, frontiers and reality. I’m waiting for the tourist [… read more ]
Memoir
Taking the Back Roads with Martin: A Story of Love, Loss, Travel and Nature
Rose Rayner shares a poignant and vivid memoir about love, loss, travel and the healing power of nature. The first time Martin and I drive together in his car he confounds me by not using [… read more ]