Here I sit a day before the big event. The event that fully symbolises us:  the trashy, idiotic Eurovision Song Festival. This festival is so dumb that our singer’s destiny depends on various factors which are absolutely unconnected to talent. I do not possess a crystal ball. And I have no clue what position our [...]

Births, for the most part, are a cause for celebration. A brand-new start. A fruition. Today marks the birth of PEN Malta. We should be celebrating this achievement. But really, shouldn’t we be crying that such an organisation is born? That we need to have an organisation to fight for freedom of expression? In an [...]

Photo: Evan Vucci/AP In this little pond of ours, we see things tribally, condone anything one of our team does. I used to think it was just us. That it’s because we are insular, small-minded, politically immature. Then I had a long conversation with a highly intelligent, articulate, usually value-obsessed American man who [...]

With apologies to William Wordsworth I wandered vaguely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of horrid carbuncles; Beside the sea, beneath no trees, Eyesores staring me in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky [...]

Vaccine. This is an obvious one. The less obvious part is that it needs to be effective and for this to happen it has to be taken by the vast majority of people. Fewer cars. Fewer roads. Less tarmac and, by the power of whatever deity there is, fewer flyovers. Add to this a good [...]