And now Libya

These are difficult times for people all across North Africa and the Middle East. In Libya the overthrow of a dictatorship seems to be more violent than it was in Egypt, although it's more difficult to follow exactly what is happening there. There seem to be positive stories coming out of Benghazi and it's heartening to hear that people can take control locally of their lives and communities. I only hope that there is no more bloodshed during this revolution, but I fear that there will be.

Fifty-five years ago this month I arrived in Benghazi with my mother and sister to join my father who had been appointed professor of English in the newly opened university there. We lived there for the next five and a half years within a couple of minutes' walk, and for the last two years within sight, of the port and the sea front where the protests are taking place.

This is an engraved copper tray given to my father by staff at the university and a miniature terracotta drum, one of the few objects of mine that remain with me, along with a lot of memories, from Libya.