Solar Stasis | Discoveries

A cluster of links from across the world wide web, feat. Anthony Lane, Claudia Rankine, David Grossman and more.

Araben

Pooneh Rohi

‘Like all roads, this one too comes to an end.’ A Swedish novel that looks at the realities of the immigrant experience.

The Naming of Moths

Tracy Fells

‘Sophia no longer worries about how life smells, if she breathes in too deeply all she tastes is ash.’ The 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner from Canada and Europe.

Eli Goldstone | Five Things Right Now

Eli Goldstone

‘The closest I come to meditating is sitting in front of a tumble dryer with a dead magazine.’

Julianne Pachico and Colin Barrett in Conversation

Julianne Pachico & Colin Barrett

Julianne Pachico and Colin Barrett debate line writing vs free writing, inherited literatures and how to give a reading.

Sana Krasikov and Viv Groskop In Conversation

Sana Krasikov & Viv Groskop

Sana Krasikov and Viv Groskop discuss the Soviet experience, the rise of mass cynicism and the politics of Russia and the US today.

Agnes of Iowa

Lorrie Moore

‘Her mother had given her the name Agnes, believing that a good-looking woman was even more striking when her name was a homely one.’

Integration

Sherman Alexie

‘Anonymous cries up and down the hallways. Linoleum floors swabbed with gray water. Mop smelling like old sex.’

Valets

Rattawut Lapcharoensap

‘It’s a slow night again. The other valets are out back playing pétanque with the kitchen staff.’

Israel

Amos Oz

‘Israeli readers do not really enjoy their literature. They read it as if obsessed.’

The Instant of Passage

Mathias Énard

‘Praying for the unknown dead, for the vague remains of the existences of total strangers, was sadly abstract.’

Olingiris

Samanta Schweblin

‘Sometimes she lied. She didn’t do it maliciously; she did it to pass the time.’