I WAS introduced to a collection of clerihews the other day – A Clutch of Clerihews, in fact, (of people and places, of nations and races, of dorps, towns and cities, of different languages and ethnicities) – by an amazing man called Feo Sachs. It all began when I was trying to book a pet-friendly [...]

IS IT only me, or is anyone else fed up with vampires? These days, it seems, you can hardly search for something to read or turn on the TV without stumbling across a gazillion vampire or werewolf-themed stories. And any day now – well, around November – there will be yet another Twilight movie. I’m [...]

IT’S logical really. If the cradle of humankind is in Africa – right here in South Africa, in fact – then it follows that language also began on our continent. And, guess what? A new study has discovered just that. According to Dr Quentin Atkinson, from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, every single [...]

I’M A bookaholic. Have been ever since I learned my ABC. My folks even had to hide all the torches away so I didn’t spend all night reading under the bedcovers. The beloved once made a futile attempt to ban me from buying any more books – he reckoned the walls were on the verge [...]

IT WAS a chance remark by my American friend Amy Potts that got me wondering about something I’ve done – quite without thought – ever since I was a little girl. “Seems a bit creepy,” she said. So I thought about it – and realised she was absolutely right. In an Easter tweet, Amy had [...]