One of the many wonderful by-products of having my parents visit is that I get to play tourist.  Actually, whenever my parents come over to London we spend most of our time eating our way through the local restaurants (of which there are many). But every now and then we venture out between meals and take in the latest, greatest art exhibition.  This time, we walked ever-so-slightly down the road and went to see what I believe to be one of the most stunning and important new art ventures to have opened in London in recent years — The Saatchi Gallery.  Not since the Tate Modern opened in  2001  have I been so bowled over by both the architecture and the holdings of a new institution.  The building itself is a renovation and extension of the old Duke of York’s barracks.  The exterior continues to look as it has for over a century and exudes the sort of “gravitas” you would expect from a museum like the Royal Academy or National Gallery.  Yet the inside is very much a blank canvas.  Huge white walls surround expansive spaces that veer off the central staircase.  Anything exciting could be waiting to knock off your socks when you walk into each of these rooms — and, for me, I was consistently wowed. Saatchi has opened his new gallery with “The Revolution Continues: New Chinese Art.” One after another, these pieces show how “concept art” can be created with humour, finesse and extraordinary technique — a wonderful change from much of the conceptual art often chosen for the Turner Prize.  My parents loved it.  I loved it.  And to think that it’s just down the road and free!  How lucky am I?

The new website has been created to help develop the writing competitions that we provide. As well as the events you’re used to attending in Portsmouth we’re also working on a brand new online competition. Very soon you’ll be able to enter our online competition ‘WriteOnSite’, where you pay a small fee to write online for 20 minutes competing against other writers from all over the place! (Really the Sally Port but from your armchair!) Why not check out the new site for more information.