One is now Hitched...

By the Bee's Royal Correspondent, Andrew Gorton. “Are you following the Royal Wedding today?” I asked the Scottish manager of my Norfolk village shop when I popped in on the day of the event.  “Why should I celebrate a family that raped and pillaged my family and forced them out of their country?” he replied, less than half-jokingly. “I've spoken with family in the Highlands, and their kids ...

A Conversation with Mark Robson

If you've attended a UK secondary school during the past ten years there's a high likelihood that you've met Mark Robson, author of rip-roaring fantasy adventures and a tireless and inspiring teacher and speaker to schools and book-groups.  He started out publishing his own books (the high fantasy Darkweaver Legacy quartet) before Simon and Schuster picked up his Imperial sequence set in the ...

Bracelet of Bones, by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Kevin Crossley-Holland is one of the giants of children's fiction, which he's been writing for as long as I can recall - I remember being thrilled by his version of Beowulf when I was at school.  More recently his Arthur trilogy has been hugely and deservedly successful, and its lovely pendant, Gatty's Tale is one of my favourite modern novels.  He's also, among other things, an acclaimed ...

A Good Workout

By Andrew Gorton In the summer of 2010, a friend, knowing of my burgeoning interest in nature and the environment, handed me the July programme of a conservation group that had, at that time, been going for nearly a year. Activities included earthworm surveys, tree planting, and the removal of bracken, bramble and other invasive species, among similar endeavours. The group was called the North Norfolk ...

MicMacs

Philip Reeve has been watching MicMacs (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2009. Cert. 12) Films slip past me sometimes now that I live so far from cinemas.  How did I miss Mic-Macs?  Did it get no cinema release in the UK?  Was there no publicity?  Not to worry; it's on DVD now, and it's well worth watching.   Alien: Resurrection  Jean-Pierre Jeunet has been one of my ...