Rica Hodgson: “foot soldier for freedom”, friend and hero

Ruth HartleyApartheid, Freedom Fighters, Memoir, South Africa, Southern Africa, The Love and Wisdom Crimes, When I Was Bad, Zambia6 Comments

Rica Hodgson — the freedom fighter who rescued me 52 years ago This post is harder to write than I expected. I was at my desk and about to write Rica a letter when I learnt that she had died. It was not unanticipated. She was 97 and had been in frail health for a while. I had only just […]

Love Stories, World Wars, Armistice Day & why I wrote The Tin Heart Gold Mine

Ruth HartleyBooks by Ruth Hartley, Migration, Politics, Southern Africa, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, War, Zambia8 Comments

Today 11.11.2017 is Armistice Day. Next year is the centenary of the end of World War One. On that day the German East African army was undefeated. It only surrendered on 25.11.1918 two weeks later. The surrender was signed in Zambia at Mbala (Abercorn),- check out the website – all those fascinating facts link to The Tin Heart Gold Mine […]

Storytelling in Zambia – there are different kinds of stories and different ways to tell stories

Ruth HartleyBooks by Ruth Hartley, Writing Process, ZambiaLeave a Comment

The Nowhere Man and citizens of the world Those of us who think of ourselves as citizens of the world have found that politicians don’t much like us. They call us citizens of Nowhere and it seems that that makes us a problem. Is this because we cross boundaries and borders? Is it because we are travellers and migrants who […]

Storytelling in words and pictures and & what it means for history, fiction and our lives today

Ruth Hartley Storytelling, Books by Ruth Hartley, Colonialism, History, Southern Africa, The Shaping of Water, The Tin Heart Gold Mine, Visual Arts, War, Zambia2 Comments

The importance of art and photos – Gallery 37d Lusaka Zambia Its wonderful when things come together to help enrich our lives and our understanding of the world. There is an art gallery in Lusaka Zambia – Gallery 37d – that is the home of the stART Foundation which supports Zambian artists. Apart from this important work they have been […]

Robert Loder and his gift to Zambian artists of the Triangle International Artists Workshops

Ruth HartleyArt Process, Creativity, Southern Africa, Visual Arts, Zambia6 Comments

Making Art This blog is a tribute to Robert Loder, a great and generous person. Some of the best things that happened to me in Zambia were because I met Robert Loder and he involved me in his passion for setting up artists’ workshops. “Making art is what is important,” Robert said to me one day. I have never forgotten […]