Writing

Writing

My writing centres on memoir and cultural essays, often at the intersection of music, travel, and place. It is shaped by lived experience, but concerned less with official record than with how events, landscapes, and encounters are rendered on the page.

In the coming year I shall be exploring the world of fiction and so watch this space for developments. If you have any suggestions I am always open to ideas.

Publications

The Singing Ambassador – A Tajik Story is the first in a sequence of books drawing on more than four decades in diplomacy. Part memoir and part cultural reflection, it explores life and work in Central Asia and beyond, and the unexpected role that song played in navigating unfamiliar settings and relationships.
Out now

Re-conquest – tales of a reborn town.

I am also a contributor to a new anthology of poetry and short pieces (fiction and non-fiction), called Re-conquest – tales of a reborn town.

Publication: October 2026

Future Projects

The Singing Ambassador – A Turkmen Story the second The Singing Ambassador book is in preparation and scheduled for later in 2027. It will be the second in the series drawing on my time in Turkmenistan.

Publication: provisionally Autumn 2027

Essays & articles

Alongside longer-form work, I write essays on music and cultural life, many of which have appeared in the Review of Sussex Arts (ROSA). These pieces often take a specific place or event as their starting point — a journey, a performance, a landscape — and follow where it leads.

Go here for selected blogs,essays and articles, with further writing and extracts added over time.