“For many years, I have been wondering how I could turn the bag of letters written by my father, in West Africa between 1942 and 1944, into some kind of story.” That’s what someone told me an email I received last week. I was excited by the coincidence of this particular request coming in November, because every year in November I think about offering a month-long course* on making an heirloom of family stories. A family project of that kind seems like a good thing for people to do in the run-up to Chanukah / Xmas / Wotever. So I replied to the person who sent me the email - the daughter of the man who wrote the letters in West Africa during WW2. I asked her on WhatsApp if she would be happy for me to share some ideas with her semi-publicly, using my podcast. Why? Because I’m sure it could be useful to others who want to work up a story in some way - and not just a family story. ​Find out what happened. (Link to podcast.) - *Course. AKA entertainment, project, or extravaganza - doesn’t matter what you call it. But whatever you call it, it would be based on The Family Project, a book I co-wrote with my wife a few years ago, published jointly by The Guardian and Faber & Faber. ​ ![]()
​ Special Projects MembersThat request (above) about working up the bag of letters was submitted to me by a long-time supporter of my Special Projects, in response to this offer by me: https://flintoff.org/1person1thing1hour​ COMING UP for Special Projects members:
Want to join Special Projects? Please send me an email and I’ll tell you how.​
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📖 7 Books in 16 languages 📚 including: How To Change The World A Modest Book About How To Make An Adequate Speech.
Hello Reader It’s three weeks since the 'Magnolias of Hampstead' exhibition at Burgh House. (Hello Reader. This is my newsletter.) Been a bit of a whirlwind, wrapping paintings very carefully, arranging couriers: and... . . . [ after an agonising wait ] . . . ...receiving confirmation that the deliveries arrived in one piece: There's something extremely satisfying about seeing these magnolias settling into their new homes. *** The exhibition itself feels like a bit of a dream now. I keep...
This woman, in this room? Unimaginable just four years ago. She was in prison, in Iran. And - more trivially - I couldn’t have dreamed that I would be doing a solo show of my art. (Hello Reader. This is my newsletter.) You may recall that in 2021 Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard went on hunger strike outside the Foreign Office in London. He was protesting at the UK government’s failure to get his wife released. I went to see him. I wasn’t on assignment or anything. It was just me,...
A weird thing happened after I booked the venue for my solo art show: blood drained from my fingers, turning them yellow. They tingled painfully. I took photos to show my wife: After an hour, the blood rushed back and the fingertips went purple. (Hello Reader. This is my newsletter.) If you don’t know already, I’m doing my first-ever solo art show, at a gallery in Hampstead. I’ve loved it, but also panicked a lot. I think that must explain the fingertip thingy. Tomorrow is the last day....