My Father, Ezra Pound
An interview with Mary de Rachewiltz, daughter of Ezra Pound, from her retreat in the Italian Tyrol. “My father always managed to be on the wrong side”
In the Medina
Green is the colour of Islam, presumably because it is emblematic of paradise. Fertility in a climate of extreme heat and vast deserts cannot be taken for granted. It may seem to a believer God-given, a blessing. The surprise is how green much of Morocco seems. Even in the intense heat of Africa, there are […]
Putin’s Patriarch
The Orthodox Church is filling a political void left by the collapse of the party system in Russia. Kirill I, the Patriarch of Moscow, is forging stronger links with the Kremlin, attacking what he ominously describes as “anti-Russian” behaviour, including homosexual propaganda, the all-female pop group “Pussy Riot” and even more bizarrely the works of Lenin.
Travels Through Rural China
Returning to China after several years absence, Olga Jazzarelli describes the dramatic changes in China’s social, cultural and physical landscapes as she tours the Shanxi and Sichuan provinces.
Mud Brick Architecture of Yemen
Yemen has a unique architectural heritage.
The master builders and craftsmen have learnt how to build to suit geography, location, the climate and available materials.
The Reactionary Mind
Corey Robin’s new book “The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin” traces the history of conservatism from a “counter-revolutionary” force during the French Revolution up until the current disarray in the American Republican party.
Flash Fiction
With the advent of internet, short fiction has come into its own – encapsulating as it does two essential prerequisites for Web success: brevity and entertainment. TGD publishes six of Iranian-born Mitra Hooshiar’s micro-stories. The art form itself is nothing new: Aesop’s Fables for example date from the time of Ancient Greece – perhaps even earlier.
Letters from Hanoi
When the festivities for the 1000 Year Founding of Hanoi were being planned, the Goethe Institute commissioned a new Music Theatre piece for the occasion, to be performed in the Vietnamese capital’s Opera House. Director Beverly Blankenship spent three months in Hanoi preparing and staging the ambitious new piece based on the myth of Parzival. These are her letters home.
Le Trio Joubran
Three brothers from Palestine, all playing the “oud”, make up Le Trio Joubran. Wissam Joubran talks to The Global Dispatches about their recent film soundtrack, their work with the legendary poet Mahmoud Darwish and the plight of the Palestinian people.
Interview with David Hirst
The veteran Middle East journalist talks to The Global Dispatches about his new book “Beware of Small States”. A history of Lebanon and the Middle East, from the end of Ottoman rule to the Hizbullah and Hamas wars of today.