Souwieon… focuses on real people and real issues that inspire and inform. I write about journalists, entrepreneurs, novelists, activists, historians and politicians. All those who I meet in my work as a freelance journalist. The topics I write about are drawn from a wide range of fields including politics, technology, the environment, economics and society. Each month, I feature an inspirational person. This is an ‘ordinary’ person whose courage, integrity and compassion has helped him/her achieve the extraordinary! I think of these people as real experts in the sense that they have unique, first-hand knowledge and experience of issues that affect all of us.
Who are these inspirational people?
The twenty-six year old author of three best-selling autobiographical novels, he grew up in northern France in a house where ‘books were the enemy’ and his first manuscript was rejected by a Paris publisher on the grounds that poverty of the kind about which he wrote, no longer exists in France. His name is Eduoard Louis, formerly Eddy Bellegueule. In his book, Who Killed my Father, he asks who is responsible for the fate of uneducated, forgotten men like his father. In so doing, he provides us with fresh insights into the origins of protests like the yellow vests and other populist movements.
I explore the incredible story of American neuroscientist and AI entrepreneur, Vivienne Ming, formerly Evan Smith. Souwie on … will also share with you the experiences of a former state poet, Jang Jin-Sung (a pseudonym) to North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, who now lives in South Korea, in daily fear for his life. What do these and other like them all have in common, you may ask? They are all exceptional people in their own right. They inspire with their courage and resilience. Their work also lies at the center of many of the crucial debates of our time. In this sense they are all timely and timeless.
Souwie on … will share with you the stories of these individuals with you. In so doing, it is my aim to both enlighten and inspire. From the social activism of former Russian oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky to the powerful advocacy of Iranian exile, Maryam Namazi and the life-saving work of human rights lawyer, Christina Moreno, large questions are explored through the stories of a range of fascinating and inspirational individuals.
What more?
Please feel free to share your thoughts with me and other readers on comments section that follows each post. This is an opportunity to enter into the debates raised in the blog. You will also find additional information selected by my good self, in the Still Curious section attached to each blog post. For those who are, well, still curious on topics related to the post in question! Or take at look at the What We’re Reading section – perhaps you’ve read the book? Perhaps you hated it, perhaps you loved it. No matter, let me know your thoughts on it!