Explore Essays and memoir
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Severalls
Tom Lee
‘He was in tears but also relieved because finally there was an acknowledgement that something was wrong with him.’
Tom Lee on his father’s admission to a psychiatric hospital.
Universal Mother
Momtaza Mehri
‘I turn to O’Connor’s music when I get tired of lying to myself. Her songs are allegorical free-falls. Spiritual chiaroscuros, even.’
Momtaza Mehri on Sinéad O’Connor.
Introduction
Thomas Meaney
‘There can be any number of significant others in a life. Some we know for a long time; others are meteoric: we may see them only once.’
The editor introduces the issue.
Literature Without Literature
Christian Lorentzen
‘Corporate publishing is the channel through which literature happens to flow at this moment in history.’
Christian Lorentzen dissects the literary establishment.
Power Metals
Nicolas Niarchos
‘The city, which is home to more than 300,000 people, is collapsing into the millions of shallow, square holes that have been cut into the ground.’
Nicolas Niarchos on mineral extraction in Manono, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sinking Town
Amitava Kumar
‘The town’s fate was tied to poor development and ecological disaster.’
Amitava Kumar visits a Himalayan town.
You Are the Product
Rosanna McLaughlin
‘Like pretty much everyone who uses the internet, I have seen many terrible things that I did not search for and that I cannot unsee.’
Rosanna McLaughlin on what the internet thinks she wants.
Introduction
Thomas Meaney
‘Culture has been bound up since the beginning with extraction.’
The editor introduces the issue.
As They Laid Down Their Cables
Laleh Khalili
‘The Eilat–Ashkelon pipeline went into operation in 1969, on the eve of the nationalisation of oil.’
Laleh Khalili on energy politics and the ‘secret’ pipeline transporting crude oil across southern Israel.
A Flat Place
Noreen Masud
‘If all things were equal, what were we even doing here? Why weren’t we lying on our living-room floors, watching the dance of the dust, today and every day?’
Memoir by Noreen Masud.
Generation Gap
Sarah Moss
‘I’d been dubious about his company at first.’
Sarah Moss on watching Shakespeare with her twelve-year-old son.
Generation Gap
Oluwaseun Olayiwola
‘Listening to three white poets, whom I suspect are academics, talk about the state of poetry.’
Oluwaseun Olayiwola eavesdrops on an older generation.
