‘Women are always at the forefront of my stories’ …Ambreen Razia.‘Women are always at the forefront of my stories’ …Ambreen Razia.TheatreInterviewAmbreen Razia: 'Whether it's gangs or terrorism, these girls want to belong'Arifa AkbarHer hit drama The Diary of a Hounslow Girl was picked up by the BBC. Now, the fast-rising playwright is capturing the female experience of London gang culture Ambreen Razia always describes herself as a British Asian Londoner. “The Londoner bit matters,” she says emphatically. Read More...
Book of the dayPolitics booksReviewOur economic system now depends upon transforming emergency relief, incarceration and the processing of asylum seekers into profitsAt one telling moment in this unnerving and convincing book, Antony Loewenstein quotes the managing director of one of the many private military companies (“PMCs”) working in Afghanistan. The United States, says “Jack”, “is not capable of running empires”. Instead, western governments outsource imperialism to people like him in a variety of organisations – Halliburton, G4S, Serco and Capita are the best known of a long list – which make their money from incarceration, the “processing” of asylum seekers or the provision of private “security” in conflict zones. Read More...
Book of the dayFictionReviewThis witty postwar classic about a terrible family Christmas raises a bitter cocktail to the festive season
When the “old” and “tottering” widow Rachel – she is in her late 60s – hosts Christmas at her Sussex seaside home, comfort and joy fail to show. This acidic novel, first published in 1951, tackles an important subject to which many modern readers will relate: the murderous claustrophobia of a family Christmas. Read More...