Explore Essays and memoir
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The Erl-King
Emma Cline
‘He was our younger sister’s baby – her and her husband’s baby, I guess. They were young parents and excessively chill.’
Memoir by Emma Cline.
Radius: A Story of Feminist Revolution
Yasmin El-Rifae
‘The only thing that was clear was that the square would be full, and Opantish had to be ready.’
An excerpt from Yasmin El-Rifae’s account of the Egyptian revolution and its aftermath, Radius.
Black and Female
Tsitsi Dangarembga
‘By the time I was in my teens, I had taken up an existence framed by a double negative: not male, not white.’
An excerpt from Tsitsi Dangarembga’s essay collection, Black and Female.
The Stars Are Blind
Anna Dorn
‘A few years ago, while in between jobs, I started doing astrology readings for cash.’
Anna Dorn on her astrology journey.
On Marble
Rachel Cusk
‘Two things – beauty and horror – are especially lasting.’
Rachel Cusk visits a marble bearing island in Greece’s Aegean sea.
On Sizewell C
William Atkins
‘Where do we go, as a country, for power?’
William Atkins on the proposed nuclear power station in Suffolk.
Beyond Conversion Therapy
Kevin Childs
‘When I was growing up in his house, religion was his crutch, a justification for his behaviour.’
Kevin Childs on growing up queer in a Catholic household.
Joy and Insecurity in Port-au-Prince
Jason Allen-Paisant
‘The body is the first measurement of time: to reclaim time is to reclaim the body.’
Jason Allen-Paisant in Haiti.
Being-in-the-World
Geoff Dyer
‘Even experienced users get scared because it’s so far out.’
Geoff Dyer on ageing and understanding the self.
Notes on Craft
Amy Bloom
‘Revision for me is relief. It is reassurance.’
Amy Bloom on the pleasures of revising.
Personal Growth
Marina Benjamin
‘Refusal is the last recourse of the powerless.’
Marina Benjamin on her years of not eating, and not growing.
Notes on Craft
Nataliya Deleva
‘I didn’t want to write Arrival from a place of exile or outcast.’ Nataliya Deleva on writing in her adoptive language.
