Archive for September, 2009
My short story writing course (2)
September 30th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
This morning, I attended the second session of my course in short story writing at the City Lit in central London. Much of the session was spent discussing the homework from last week when we were asked to draft 500-800 words as the opening of a short story picking up on an object in the […]
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Forgotten World (183): Palmyra
September 30th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Palmyra is an atoll of a mere 4.6 square miles located in the Northern Pacific Ocean. It is incorporated territory of the United States, meaning that it is subject to all provisions contained in the United States Constitution and is permanently under U.S. sovereignty. However, it is also an unorganized territory as there is no […]
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Gordon Brown’s big speech
September 29th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
If you have an hour to spare, you can watch in full the speech made by Gordon Brown to today’s Labour Party Conference here. You can read the full text and find some analysis from the BBC here.
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Forgotten World (182): Antigua and Barbuda
September 29th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Antigua and Barbuda (Spanish for “Ancient” and “Bearded”) is one of the Caribbean’s most prosperous nations, thanks to its tourism industry and offshore financial services. The country’s strength lies in its tropical climate and good beaches, which have made it popular as a stop-off point for US cruise ships and have attracted large investments in […]
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Three elections in Europe
September 28th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
One might think that the most serious economic crisis in the history of global capitalism would severely dent the fortunes of the most pro-capitalist political parties in free market nations, but recent elections do not offer any such solace for social democrats like me. This weekend, there were elections in Germany, Austria and Portugal and […]
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Forgotten World (181): Turks and Caicos
September 28th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of my regular weeks of postings in my long-running series called Forgotten World – a look at parts of the world that hardly feature in our media or thoughts – so let’s return to the series. You can check the previous 180 entries here. The Turks and […]
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The history of Iran
September 27th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Vee and I are really looking forward to our holiday in Iran in a month or so’s time (nuclear crisis permitting). Before visiting a new country, I always read about its history and Iran – or Persia as it was known for a long time – has some 6,000 years of it. I’ve just finished […]
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The German federal elections
September 26th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Germans go to the polls tomorrow in an important federal election. To help you make sense of it, you might like to read my “Short Guide To The German Political System”.
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My 10th short story
September 25th, 2009 by Roger Darlington
My latest short story is called “The Face At The Window”. Please give it a read and let me know what you think. Now that work has resumed after the summer break, I’m likely to complete fewer stories that I managed over the summer but, since I’m now attending a course, they might become better.
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My short story writing course (1)
September 23rd, 2009 by Roger Darlington
Two and a half months after I registered for the course and having now written nine short stories for my web site, today I started a course in short story writing at the City Lit in central London. The course is from 10.15 am – 12.15 pm each Wednesday for 12 weeks and our tutor […]
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