Driving down to Galilee

The diary of a writer's visit to Israel, September 1984In 1984 I was invited by the teachers at the School of Education of the Kibbutz Movement based at Oranim in the north of the country to spend time with them discussing children's literature, the training of teachers in the teaching of literature, and the present state of literature for the young in Israel and Britain.

I had never been to Israel, but as someone brought up in the Christian tradition, who also spent seven years as a monk in the Anglican church, images of the Holy Land drawn from the Bible provided furniture for my mind and imagination. Reading and hearing about the country, in documentaries, news reports and articles, always sparked my interest. The invitation to see the place for myself was irresistible.

I decided to keep a fairly detailed diary of the visit, not only as a record for myself but also for my wife, Nancy. It wasn't intended for publication. But when I got back home, I made a little book of it as a Christmas present for a few friends, using my first PC to produce the text and a photocopier to print the pages. This 'limited edition' of ten copies contained photographs, documents and other items as illustrations.

Recently, Nancy decided to go through the process for the first time of producing a book by the digital method of Print on Demand. This can be fairly complicated, especially for anyone who is not experienced in computer design programs, as she wasn't. As a 'trial text' she wanted something straightforward that wouldn't involve putting an author at risk if she didn't succeed. It was then that we remembered my Israel diary, which Nancy thought exactly right for her purpose.

By the time we finished working on the book we both liked it and the published version enough to think it worth offering readers who are interested in my other books. And so Driving down to Galilee is now available.

Driving down to Galilee
Foreword by Alan Tucker
Line by Line
An imprint of The Thimble Press
130 pages, full colour cover
ISBN 978-0-903355-51-3
£10 post and packing included

 

 

 

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