My Grandson, Climate Change, Drought and that Children’s Book

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Book Publishing, Climate change, Dust and Rain, The Shaping of Water, When I Was Bad, When We Were Wicked3 Comments

On the Zambezi River In 1993, while sitting in a boat on the Zambezi River floodplain, far north of Mongu, watching the beautiful flights of hundreds of pelicans, I began to make notes and sketches for a book about climate change for my grandson, Stephen Kupakwesu Bush. It was called The Drought Witch. Stephen was 3 years old. It would […]

Food, Family and Love

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, antisemitism, Conflict, Human rights, The Shaping of Water, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, War3 Comments

Yesterday I was driven to look at my wonderful collection of cookbooks. I did so because I was furious. I had something to prove, and I knew the answer would be in my kitchen on the shelf above my bread board, kettle and toaster. (I’ll tell you what made me angry later in this blog post – perhaps you’ll guess […]

Kariba Dam, Climate Change, Hydro-Power, Agriculture and Water

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Climate change, Dust and Rain, The Shaping of Water, Zambia1 Comment

In fact, everything needed for life in Zambia, Zimbabwe and the SADC region There is a huge and important news story to be told about climate change that affects the whole of sub-Saharan Africa and therefore the world. I have discovered since posting this blog that the video I watched about the Zambezi River being so low on water that […]

The Mpapa Gallery: Lusaka Zambia 1978 – 1996

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Art by Ruth Hartley, Books by Ruth Hartley, Installations, m’Other Art, Mpapa Gallery A monograph The history of Mpapa Gallery Lusaka Zambia 1978-1996, The Tin Heart Gold Mine2 Comments

A Monograph by Ruth Hartley It is done. Published this year 2024 and delivered to Zambia where Lechwe Art Gallery has generously and efficiently distributed copies to those artists and creative people connected with the Mpapa Gallery or wishing to research a part of the history of Zambian art. We have been sending out PDF copies to people who are […]

Glory

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, When We Were WickedLeave a Comment

NoViolet Bulawayo’s remarkable satire Glory, about Zimbabwe was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022. I can’t recommend it highly enough. As well as being a very good read. it is a skilled, literate, well researched and detailed account of the last days of the murderous Robert Mugabe, the Founding Father of Zimbabwe and the start of the reign of […]