Memoir
Renewal
We present an extract from RC Birchley’s Portsmouth-focused walks book Jagged Edges: A Search for Space in an Island City. Here Birchley focuses on walking in late winter, when new signs of life are starting [… read more ]
travel writing
Memoir
The Ugly Duckling: Of Courtship and Competition
Now resident in Portsmouth, Joan Farnell spent some time living in Pakistan. In this narrative she recalls being unwittingly drawn into a family drama of courtship and competition. I sat on the flat roof gazing [… read more ]
Memoir
Get Cartographic: For the Love of Maps and the South Coast
Travel writer and planetary modeller David Angus recalls a childhood excursion to the south coast that helped shape a lifelong fascination for maps and their curious symbolism. Holidays. Well, in a way infancy like retirement [… read more ]
Culture
Wanted: Your Creative Writing
We are thrilled to announce that we have appointed two Literary Editors to the team, Prof Sue Harper and long-time contributor to the site, Paul Valentine. Sue and Paul are keen to read work submitted [… read more ]
Culture
From Nepal to Pompey: Strange Parallels
Between 2010 and 2012, S&C photo essayist and local resident, John Callaway, lived in Nepal. In a new series, John looks back at his time there in the context of the pandemic and lockdown. This [… read more ]
Memoir
Elephants and Cockroaches: Travels in Pakistan
In this period of fickle weather, Portsmouth resident Joan Farnell reflects on the heat, rain and creepy crawlies of Pakistan, where she used to live. The figurine of a little painted elephant took my thoughts [… read more ]
Events
Traipsing with Travel Writers Event and Workshop
As part of Portsmouth BookFest 2020, several S&C regulars plus guests from out of town will discuss their travel-inspired poems, novels, articles and reportage – and how you can use your own experiences to create [… read more ]
Memoir
Eastward Ho! From Zurich to Pakistan
Portsmouth-based writer Joan Farnell recalls an eventful trip she took from East to West during which the former blended with the latter in curious and eye-opening ways. ‘I think these people must do this every [… read more ]
Culture
Book review: A Chip Shop In Poznan: My Unlikely Year In Poland by Ben Aitken
S&C Community Reporter Rosy Bremer reviews Ben Aitken’s book A Chip Shop In Poznan: My Unlikely Year In Poland, which explores Ben’s experiences in Poland, from working in a chip shop to trying to keep order [… read more ]
Reviews
Our Man in Guyana: A Review of Down in Demerara by Mike Manson
Portsmouth University Visiting Lecturer Mike Manson’s effervescent new novel Down in Demerara concerns Felix Radstock, a British consultant sent to humid and chaotic Guyana to gather data on its economy. The problem is, he doesn’t [… read more ]