Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens
What a loss for the world with Hitchen’s death. His was such a formidable intellect and his books remain the best expression of his magnificent life journey.
Neap Tide The Toucher
Fabulous writing by this larger than life poet and author. I love both the overt and undercurrent sensuality of Hewitt’s writing.
Woven Gods: Female Clowns and Power in Rotuma (Pacific Islands Monograph
I found this book in a dusty corner of a bookshelf in the Pacific Studies Centre at the University of the South Pacific when I was living in Fiji. It captures the culture, customs and community of Rotuma life and just as importantly opens up Pacific writing written by women of the South Pacific.
Conference of the Birds: The Story of Peter Brook in Africa
Having brought my sleeping bag to the 12 hour performance of Peter Brooks’ The Mahabaratha, I was always curious about his Conference of the Birds. In this book the author follows Peter Brooks and his theater company as they travel across Africa improvising plays with local people in the communities they visit over the course of many months. It’s a fascinating insight to the man and his method as well as the troupe and its ways of seeing and being in another continent.
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History Is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World
One of the best writers writing about citizen led change. Compelling. Follow his blog.
To the Castle and Back (Vintage)
One of the truly great and heroic figures of the twentieth century. His writing is phenomenal A renowed playwright and later the President of Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution. Here he shares…
Drinking the Sea at Gaza: Days and Nights in a Land Under Siege
I read this book while I was doing a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies. An Israeli journalist bases herself in Gaza to understand what’s really happening and embraces the complexity of her situation with grace and great prose. She was the first journalist to live in this gutted enclave and to report on what she saw.
Poems Poems Volume 2
Just the best poems from the late Australian poet, Gwen Harwood. Musical and memorable.
The Silver Donkey
My magical book.
The Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid Business
This book is well known by many working in development aid for its searing analysis of the aid industry and of why extreme poverty remains with us still.
Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals, 1962-1966
Fragrant Palm Leaves is Hahn’s own journey from Vietnam to the United States to his current life at Plum Village, Deer Park and elsewhere in the world. His journey is intense and fragrant, as per the title. The collection takes you deeper while I Have Arrived is the story of Plum Village. Everything he’s written is worth reading and his voice is akin to the Dalai Lama’s.