Explore essays and memoir
Stasiland
Anna Funder
‘The Berlin Wall ran a couple of kilometres from here and there was no getting over it.’ An extract from Anna Funder’s Stasiland, winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction.
[The Delicate Architecture of the Withdrawal Agreement]
Kevin Breathnach
‘I, the pulse. I, the task. I, the ions of the documents extant. I, I, I as in, irrealidad, ingles, intruido.’
Connecting Worlds, Inventing Worlds
José Eduardo Agualusa & Daniel Hahn
José Eduardo Agualusa and Daniel Hahn on translating and being translated. ‘As a humble, invisible translator, I let him get the last word.’
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones
Edoardo Albert
Edoardo Albert on five archaeological findings that brought the past to life.
On Tastelessness
Adam O’Fallon Price
‘Write through your first ending is advice I give, again and again.’
Lauren Aimee Curtis | Notes on Craft
Lauren Aimee Curtis
‘I think that if we knew, really understood, the reasons why certain stories take hold of us, we would have no need for fiction at all.’ Lauren Aimee Curtis shares her notes on the craft of writing.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
Peter Stamm & Michael Hofmann
Peter Stamm on the oldest barber in Switzerland, and Michael Hofmann on translating Peter Stamm.
How to Take a Literary Selfie
Sylvie Weil
Sylvie Weil on what it means to take a literary selfie. Translated from the French by Ros Schwartz.
Jianan Qian | First Sentence
Jianan Qian
‘For every witness, history unfolded at some other time, and in some other place.’ Jianan Qian on the first sentence of her story, ‘To the Dogs’.
Little nothings: Nabokov’s road notes
Elsa Court
Elsa Court on why Vladimir Nabokov immersed himself in the all-American world of roadside service stations.
Julia Armfield | First Sentence
Julia Armfield
‘A first line is a threat, I think.’ Julia Armfield on the first sentence of her story ‘Longshore Drift’.
Love After Abuse
Lucia Osborne-Crowley
Lucia Osborne-Crowley on the complexity of navigating sexuality while recovering from sexual abuse.
The Emperor of Ice Cream
Rebecca Tamás
‘Death is terrifying and impossibly big, but life is even bigger – vulgar, relentless, ruthless.’
Lemons in Winter
Mika Taylor
‘I wonder why I am always the last to let go. I wonder if there is any amount that will ever be enough.’
Nina Leger | Notes on Craft
Nina Leger
‘To say nothing about her was the only way to allow her to be everything.’
Bookshelves: John Berger in My Family Album
Amitava Kumar
‘The contours of the family arranged on the bookshelf shifted.’
H+
Matthieu Gafsou & Daisy Hildyard
‘It’s a shadow-world: strangely familiar, all the same.’ Daisy Hildyard introduces Mattieu Gafsou’s photoessay on transhumanism.
A Woman Screaming
Saskia Vogel
‘I realized that neither revenge nor compulsive storytelling would release me from this pain.’
Going Home
Raja Shehadeh
Read an excerpt from Raja Shehadeh’s Going Home, a reflection on ageing, failure, the occupation, and the changing face of Ramallah.
Karen Olsson | Notes on Craft
Karen Olsson
Karen Olsson shares her notes on the craft of writing: ‘Every book is an unsolvable problem, and yet every time I convince myself I’m just on the verge of cracking it.’
Night on Fire
Darcey Steinke
‘I know what’s going to happen and I know that it’s going to be bizarre.’
Stuck in Trees (with Apologies to Ian Frazier)
Jessica Francis Kane
‘On 8 January 2018, I noticed a large bunch of purple balloons in a tree near my apartment building.’
The Resurgence of the Monstrous Feminine
Hannah Williams
‘Despite the sheer and uncommunicable amount of violence enacted upon the female body throughout history, it’s woman as terroriser, as beast, that we keep coming back to.’
Boxing
Fatima Farheen Mirza
Fatima Farheen Mirza on navigating gender roles in a Muslim family, wearing hijab and learning how to box.
The Way to the Sea
Caroline Crampton
‘Alone in the silent dark, she traversed the mouth of the estuary in mile-long sweeps, making a little more progress up the river each time she turned. Wind and tide were pushing her away, back towards the sea.’
