Smiffblog.
Shall we meet then, you and I… In Skyros
Shall we meet then, you and I, on a Greek island in September? Any day between Saturday 4th and 11th? Admittedly you will have to pay for this – but think what fun we can have… This will be the 4th time I have taught a course this year called ‘Mindlessness’ on the island of Skyros and […]
Read more
Poem: Saturday in Athens
Saturday in Athens You can just discern her, a faded imprint in the matinal shimmer a little shabbier than one might hope She sits and thinks and sits and thinks about her glorious heyday years (which all the world is still applauding) and wonders what will become of her… But then as dusk […]
Read more
Machynlleth Comedy Festival
Warning: if you are not already wearing one, and are intending to read to the end of this blog, then you now need to go and find a hat to put on. Go on off you go. Machynlleth, you may not be surprised to learn, is in Wales and accordingly takes nearly 150 hundred years […]
Read more
10 Years Ago…
Balance March 2012 It was my first time in Geneva, that grand old town on the lake, but I cannot say I was enjoying myself; propped up on 3 pillows, I lay in my hotel room, desperately trying to ignore the pain in my stomach and the thought that this was going to be my […]
Read more
Blog about my Dad – Syd in Venice
I think the most successful sections of my autobiography, My Name is Daphne Fairfax were those featuring my father – the letter of praise for Daphne I most cherished ended, “and thank you, above all, for introducing me to Syd.” At the age of 70, prompted by my brother Richard, Syd spent several months writing […]
Read more
Written for the Guardian Travel Section
I had gone to a friend’s place in the South of France intending to forget my broken heart by writing a comedy show for the Edinburgh Fringe. Arles, as occupied by Romans and painted by Van Gogh, is an exquisite little town but, for 3 days, all I had done was to moon joylessly around […]
Read more