Fiona Thackeray

A collection of short stories, poetry, haiku and memories inspired by Japan, with a foreword by Alex Salmond. All proceeds to the Japanese Red Cross to help those affected by the tsunami. Includes my story, ‘The Emperor’s Crows’ and work by many talented Scottish writers, among others: Katy McAulay, J David Simons and Helen Sedgwick. The authors, editors and publishers gave their work for free. You can buy a copy here:

 http://www.cargopublishing.com/a-thousand-cranes-scottish-writers-for-japan/

If you are in Edinburgh on 4th August, come and enjoy a literary evening (starting 6pm) at Blackwells on the Bridges. I will be reading from The Secret’s in the Folding and we’ll be able to hear from some great contemporary Scottish writers. http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/events/blackwell-s-writers-at-the-fringe?day=25-08-2011&performance=1%3A7079

See fellow author Shirley Mckay’s post about the Blackwells’ reading here: http://www.shirleymckay.co.uk/taxonomy/term/130

Writers for Japan will publish ‘A Thousand Cranes’ an anthology to support those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Out in August, in a book shop near you – all proceeds to local organisations working to rebuild the worst hit communities. http://glasgowwritersjapan.wordpress.com/

In March, if you are in Perth or Inverness you can catch one of these readings to promote my short story collection,  The Secret’s in the Folding.

3rd March 2011 - Celebrate World Book Day at Inverness Library, 7.30pm. Free entry. http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/F56D4D96-3836-4886-9C54-7E3591A78761/0/FionaThckerayFlyerlores.pdf

26th March 2011 - Writers Day at Perth’s AK Bell Library, 1pm, Sandeman Room. Sandwich lunch provided.  http://www.pkc.gov.uk/Education+and+learning/Libraries+archives+and+learning+centres/Libraries+-+news+and+events/Libraries+-+events/Annual+Writers+Day+events+and+workshops+-+AK+Bell+Library+on+26+March+2011.htm

Back in Brazil to visit family and friends – in rural spa towns, chic urban maisonettes, in nursing homes and a forest field station. En route I’m gaily filling up notebooks with choice quotes, random observations, brand names and anecdotes.

Six hours walking in the Atlantic Forest today brought aching legs, a whole lot of sweat and swarms of the pestiferous mutuca (deerfly). It’s not always something you can factor into the logistics of planning a transatlantic trip – the lifecycle of a particular insect group, but I am convinced I should try harder. Deerfly season lasts a month or so and the molestation is worse in open areas – under the dense canopy they seem to lose their bloodlust a little. If there are prizes in the insect world for sheer persistence and enthusiasm, the mutuca will be a shoo-in.

            Other animal kingdom clans were not so well-represented – an endangered Pigeon Eagle observed us from a bough over the river, a huge toad stood its ground in the middle of the trail, a scarlet Brazilian Tanager swooping across our sightlines into the scrub, offered a teasing glimpse of scandalous beauty. And a couple of trogons boldly disputed territory within arms reach, displaying Van Gogh colours. As diverse, more so, maybe, than the Amazon, the Atlantic rainforest’s Achilles heel was to be growing exactly where colonisers most wanted to settle: along the Brazilian seaboard. Less than 5% remains of the forest today. The Amazon, has, to some extent, been protected by its inaccessibility, its broiling Equatorial climate and its remote frontiers with Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. This is less and less a defence in the face of roads, legal and illegal, the ubiquitous motor car, heavy extraction machinery and light aircraft – high powered kit that penetrates almost everywhere. And while the Federal environment agency, IBAMA, has equally high tech satellite monitoring kit in the shape of SIVAN, and many excellent employees, the area under supervision is on a continental scale, and there is enough rot in the Federal law-enforcement machinery to ensure determined miners and loggers (often European) can get on with the business of extraction unperturbed.

            Which brings me almost neatly to the messy subject of corruption and ‘Elite Troop II’. Now in its 6^th week on release in Brazilian cinemas, it broke Brazil’s record for the most watched film ever (previously held by a 1970’s production of Jorge Amado’s ‘Dona Flor and her Two Husbands’) when the 10 millionth ticket was sold this weekend. If you saw the first Elite Squad you’ll know the territory – Captain Roberto Nascimento of Rio de Janeiro’s Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) continues his mission to rid the city of traffickers and the corrupt politicians who feed off their bloody trade like engorged ticks. The methods employed by BOPE’s elite troops are often violent but Nascimento contends that they need to be to confront those who are capable of endless brutality. It can’t be long until it’s released internationally. You should watch it to feel sick to the stomach at corruption everywhere, and especially the corruption that still corrodes the very heart of Brazil, a nation on the rise – an emerging global economy. In Sao Paulo, the cost of living has rocketed – the richest commute by helicopter and TV commercial breaks are dominated by car ads as makers vie for the newly disposable income of every strata of society – even the maids who once went to work on foot, bicycle or overcrowded buses. In a land where the wealth gap is still a dizzying chasm, where people still go hungry and die from preventable diseases, the corruption that percolates from the power elite through Military Police battalions to militia and drug cartels that dominate the favelas is nauseating. The scene where Cptn Nascimento takes his fists to the crooked Head of Security has been applauded by cinema-goers in spontaneous expressions of disgust at impunity, embezzlement, greed, barefaced lying and brutality. The irony for one columnist in Veja magazine, is that the average Brazilian participates in law-evasion and small acts of corruption every day – whether by offering a few reais for ‘beers’ to a policeman to avoid a traffic fine, to asking a planning official to ‘find a way around’ a barrier to approval for a home improvement. This misses the point of Captain Nascimento’s zero tolerance approach. In the closing scenes, the incumbent governor is re-elected; his Head of Security retains his post amid hand-shaking and back-slapping. We wonder, despite our hero’s valour and the brave stand made by a lone senator, has anything changed in the corridors of Brasilia?