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Scheherazade Conjoining (31)

Jay Gao

‘Thank any God, our emergency is celestially authorised’

New poetry by Jay Gao.

The Young Entrepreneurs of Miss Bristol’s Front Porch

Sidik Fofana

‘Every black girl on my block was waitin to get a look at Kandese when she first come for the summer. Her grandmuhva told us she hit a teacher with a ruler and got kicked out of her school in Harlem.’

Fiction by Sidik Fofana.

Japanese Wives

Noriko Hayashi

‘Every time I remember that moment, I can’t help but cry. I was only twenty-one years old.’

A photoessay by Noriko Hayashi.

Oath to the Queen

Xiaolu Guo

Xiaolu Guo on The Archers, the Life in the UK Test and swearing allegiance to the Queen.

Bear

Naomi Ishiguro

‘My wife and I lay side by side, the bear looming over us in the same way a crucifixion scene looms above the pews inside a Catholic church.’

Short fiction by Naomi Ishiguro.

Best Book of 1928: Quicksand

Lucy Ives

Lucy Ives argues that Nella Larsen – author of ‘terse, obsessively observed fiction’ – penned the best book of 1928.

Best Book of 1962: The Pumpkin Eater

Nicole Flattery

Nicole Flattery on why Penelope Mortimer’s The Pumpkin Eater is the best book of 1962.

Best Book of 1982: The Years of Lyndon Johnson

Beth Gardiner

Beth Gardiner on why volume one of Robert Caro’s The Years of Lyndon Johnson series is the best book of 1982.

Glimpses of a totally different system

William Ghosh

‘This old circuit, which had been partly dormant, connected to an earlier memory. It was warm and fizzy and sharp. Then he stepped away, and the current was broken.’

Alicja Gescinska | On Europe

Alicja Gescinska

‘Europe has proved to be at its best when it embraced unity in diversity.’

We Do Not Know Each Other

Lara Feigel

‘Is that what family is for? Helping you to understand what formed you?’

Michael Hofmann | On Europe

Michael Hofmann

‘For all its flimsiness, the cage takes itself terribly seriously, restricting access, glorying in the name of Fatherland.’

Fanciphobia

Colin Herd

‘I wear my fear around me / I fan it out on my pillow’

Romesh Gunesekera | On Europe

Romesh Gunesekera

‘Identity, it seemed, was not so self-determined after all.’