Matt Rees's Blog – August 2009 Archive (25)

A bloated, stinking mass of Ariel Sharon

The aptly-named Ariel Sharon Park

Opinion: Israel’s biggest garbage dump is being redeveloped — and renamed.

By Matt Beynon Rees - GlobalPost

TEL AVIV — A bloated, stinking mass that everyone would have preferred not to have to see, but which nonetheless was thrust upon them. A sight that shamed the people of Israel and ought to have been marginalized, but which was… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on August 6, 2009 at 4:38pm — 2 Comments

Poetry from the ‘driest’ book of the Bible: Yakov Azriel’s Writing Life

A few years ago I was at a literary conference near Tel Aviv. I found an eclectic mix of writers on the panel with me. I’m a crime writer. You wouldn’t expect me to be paired with a writer of poetry who takes his inspiration from the stories of the Bible. But as Yakov Azriel read his poetry, I sat beside him… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on August 5, 2009 at 8:12pm — No Comments

A Gripping Read, or Gripping Your Read

I’m delighted to present a guest blogger today whose terrific new novel STOP ME is out tomorrow. Richard Jay Parker was born in the same South Wales town as me, just around the corner from where my parents now live. In our different ways, clearly, the mean streets of Newport shaped… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on August 4, 2009 at 4:44pm — No Comments

The Snow Queen of Crime: Monica Kristensen’s Writing Life

On a recent trip to Oslo, I lunched with my publisher there Hakan Haket and an astonishingly fascinating local crime writer named Monica Kristensen. Extraordinarily charismatic, she has a trove of stories unlike anything one tends to come across in typical… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on August 3, 2009 at 1:36am — No Comments

Just like the (good?) old days

With US diplomats roaming the streets of Jerusalem, it's like the intifada never happened.

By Matt Beynon Rees - GlobalPost

JERUSALEM — It’s like the intifada never happened.

American diplomats mobbed the streets of Jerusalem this week. Even Iran point man Dennis Ross, whose sad-sack demeanor was a frequent feature of the Oslo peace… Continue

Added by Matt Rees on August 1, 2009 at 1:28am — No Comments