Explore Essays and memoir
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Exile
Elif Shafak
‘The first time I heard the word exile – sürgün – in Turkish, I was a child. It struck me how closely it rhymed with another word: hüzün – melancholy.’
When We Returned to Pakistan
Bina Shah
Bina Shah on growing up in Pakistan. ‘Culture shock was what they called it in those days, but to me it felt like a kidnapping.’
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.
Feeling Southern: A Patagonian Story
Fabián Martínez Siccardi
‘I was harbouring a southern feeling, a deep connection with the South of this real world, where I was born and will probably die.’
On Europe | Peter Stamm
Peter Stamm
Peter Stamm on the Swiss referendum to join the EU. Translated from the German by Michael Hofmann.
Pajtim Statovci | Notes on Craft
Pajtim Statovci
‘My childhood was pierced not only by the violence in Kosovo but also by the violence my immigrant family was confronted with in Finland.’
Night on Fire
Darcey Steinke
‘I know what’s going to happen and I know that it’s going to be bizarre.’
The Power of a Name
Rebecca Tamás
‘When English is the dominant everything, you can’t help wanting to fight for the little speck of the rest of your self.’
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.’
