Category: Writing

Cricket in Uzbekistan: Some writing in the 2023 Wisden Almanack

April 20, 2023

The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2023 includes a piece that I wrote for its Cricket Round The World section, about the growth of the game in the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan. 

Having played and followed cricket all my life, I’m very proud that my article has a place alongside writing by my favourite journalists. Following the Notes by the Editor Lawrence Booth, the 2023 Wisden features essays by writers including Mike Atherton, Gideon Haigh, Tanya Aldred, Tim de Lisle and Emma John. … More Cricket in Uzbekistan: Some writing in the 2023 Wisden Almanack

Zhanyrtuu (Renewal) – subtitles for a Kyrgyz film

August 30, 2022

I wrote the English subtitles for a documentary film from Kyrgyzstan, Zhanyrtuu (Renewal) by the Kyrgyz filmmaker Victoria Arkhangelskaya. The 15-minute film is about Svetlana Domashova, a lady who cares for her adult daughter, Elena, who is mentally impaired. In some very emotional interviews, Svetlana tells of her struggles in coming to terms with – and fighting to understand – Elena’s condition. The documentary introduces the Zhanyrtuu Foundation in Bishkek, which Svetlana created to make a supportive community for other disabled people in Kyrgyzstan, and their families.   … More Zhanyrtuu (Renewal) – subtitles for a Kyrgyz film

Kind Askar – a translation of some fairy-tales by the Kazakh author Bayangali Alimzhanov

August 22, 2022

– And it’s me who is the most useful! – mooed the calf. I feed the humans. Everyone needs my milk!
– No, I am the most useful! – bleated the lamb. – Humans make all their clothes from my wool…
– Well, I am the most clean! And the humans love me for it. – the little goat interrupted. – And they say that goats’ milk is the best medicine!
– You mean the best medicine apart from horses’ milk! – snorted the foal. – How can you forget our fresh saumal and kumys?
– You’re both wrong! The best milk comes from camels. It’s called shubat! – said the little camel. … More Kind Askar – a translation of some fairy-tales by the Kazakh author Bayangali Alimzhanov

Little Squirrel by Andrei Geraschenko – a translation of a prescient anti-war story from Belarus

May 12, 2022

In February I translated a short story set at the end of the Second World War – Belchonok (Little Squirrel) by the Belarusian author Andrei Geraschenko. The story was written and published in Russian in 1992. Told through the death of a small Belarusian boy, killed during a Nazi raid on his village, it is an affecting and thoughtful piece of writing about one of the tragedies of war: that the soldiers who kill children are often fathers themselves. … More Little Squirrel by Andrei Geraschenko – a translation of a prescient anti-war story from Belarus

Cricket in Tajikistan: Some writing in the 2022 Wisden Almanack

April 21, 2022

The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 2022 includes a piece that I wrote for its Cricket Round The World section. It is about the history of cricket in the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan – from the shepherds in the 1960s who played the game on their jailoos (summer pastures), to the Tajik throwing-and-hitting game chilikdangal, played with sticks in the mountainous Wakhan Corridor, to a new six-team T20 tournament in the capital Dushanbe. Tajikistan became the 106th member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2021, and has some ambitious plans for the future, in partnership with its cricketing neighbours in Afghanistan. … More Cricket in Tajikistan: Some writing in the 2022 Wisden Almanack

Letter from Ulan-Ude (Buryatia, Siberia)

March 5, 2022

“The Rinpoche Bagsha temple crackled with the deep murmur of Buddhist prayer. Under the warm gaze of a golden cross-legged Buddha, eight monks in crimson robes sat at a low table in the centre of the room, ethereal chants bursting from their throats. A bell tinkled. During the final prayer the congregation, squeezed together on benches close to the monks, picked up parcels of food and waved them in front of themselves in clockwise circles. The bell tinkled one last time”. … More Letter from Ulan-Ude (Buryatia, Siberia)