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Spirit and Supernature

It’s the Easter vacation, which for Christians is one of the holiest times. I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I don’t have a religious bone in my body. But I cannot deny the deep feelings of spirituality that many others have. Countless educated and rational people believe in a God, spirits and …

Chopsticks

On a recent visit to the University of Nottingham campus at Ningbo, China, I came across a creative writing reading group. They take turns to pen very short stories of no more than 600 words that they can discuss together. I mentioned that I loved writing but had never attempted fiction. An invitation – perhaps …

Travel

The old cliché is that travel broadens the mind. Is there any truth in it? There are many ways of learning about cultures and languages but surely the most pleasing is to go and experience it firsthand. Naturally our universities will offer a year abroad as standard for anyone on its language degrees. In time …