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Of Cattle and Men

Ana Paula Maia

‘No one goes unpunished. They’re men of cattle and blood.’

An extract from Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Zoë Perry.

The Gospel According to the New World

Maryse Condé

‘Our Father had perhaps two sons and sent her the younger one.’

An excerpt from The Gospel According to the New World, by Maryse Condé, translated from the French by Richard Philcox.

Husband Number Five

Emily Adrian

‘I’ve been cruel to my mother all my life. Relentlessly hitting on her new boyfriend was barely remarkable.’

Fiction by Emily Adrian.

Oxblood

Tom Benn

‘Some nights he hurt her which made her glad; she never let him know because the pain was brief and rare and felt like penance.’

An extract from Oxblood by Tom Benn.

Nothing Special

Nicole Flattery

‘There was very little I could do in life except get dressed, smoke the correct cigarettes.’

An extract from Nothing Special by Nicole Flattery.

Blue Hunger

Viola Di Grado

‘All I wanted was to look at Xu and be looked at by Xu. Be touched by Xu. Be commanded by Xu.’

An extract from Blue Hunger by Viola Di Grado, translated by Jamie Richards.

Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies

Maddie Mortimer

This one – it’s a bit of a beast, he said.’

An extract from Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer. Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2022.

Misfortune

André Alexis

‘How many children had accidentally – or purposely, for that matter – shot a parent? Too many to count, no doubt.’

Fiction by André Alexis.

This Is as Far as We Come

Carlos Fonseca

‘Those men and women don’t want rubber. They are after something more ethereal but fearsome: the conversion of souls.’

Fiction by Carlos Fonseca, translated by Megan McDowell.

Biography of X

Catherine Lacey

‘Grief has a warring logic; it always wants something impossible, something worse and something better.’

An extract from Biography of X by Catherine Lacey.

A Light Bird

Maylis de Kerangal

‘Her voice survived her, in recorded form, indestructible, in the form of a light bird.’

Fiction by Maylis de Kerangal, translated by Jessica Moore.

Owlish

Dorothy Tse

‘Here one minute, gone the next.’An extract from Owlish by Dorothy Tse, translated by Natascha Bruce.

I Won’t Let You Go

Hiromi Kawakami

‘I have no idea why I felt so drawn to the mermaid, but the pull was irresistible.’

Fiction by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Allison Markin Powell.

Dazzling

Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ

‘I saw it all. Nobody here gives children ear, so I saw everything just by being quiet and doing like I dinor see.’

An extract from Dazzling by Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ.