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Mother’s Death

Stephen Sharp

‘Last year father attacked me as a “wet radish”. This caused me to give up writing diary entries.’

The Perseids

Susan Straight

‘The time of the Perseids never varied. That was why Dante’s mother had taught him the stars.’

Five Skeins

Sarah V. Schweig

‘In my crumbling country every day, / people spend their lives standing in lines / to buy designer sneakers.’

The Editor’s Chair: On Svetlana Alexievich

Jacques Testard

‘It is clear when reading Svetlana Alexievich that she has a deep empathy for the characters whose stories she tells.’

Painter to the King

Amy Sackville

This is an excerpt from Painter to the King, Amy Sackville's account of the life of Diego Velázquez. Now available from Granta Books.

Walk Laramidia

Swati Rana

‘Imagine all the prodigal / People, hoping only to / Escape every human mistake.’

In the Valley of Coachella

Susan Straight

Novelist Susan Straight and photographer Douglas McCulloh on the presidential streets of the ‘real’ Coachella

Fishes and Dragons

Undinė Radzevičiūtė

An excerpt from ‘Fishes and Dragons’ a Lithuanian literary chinoiserie that addresses the interpretation by a European of Qing dynasty culture and art.

Pay for Your Words

Peter Pomerantsev

Peter Pomerantsev downloads his Facebook data. ‘We seem to be caught in a trap: the more we use a word, the more we will be charged for it.’

Poppy

Caroline Criado Perez

'I never worried about my flat catching fire before Poppy came along.' Caroline Criado Perez on her pet Poppy.

Our Donald: A Sex Story

Ross Raisin

‘Ducks are very sexual creatures. Domestic ducks, unlike wild ones, are polygamous.’

20/20

Tatyana Tolstaya

'I didn't start out a writer, and had no plans of becoming one.' Tatyana Tolstaya, translated from the Russian by Anya Migdal

The Advent of the AI Co-Author

Stuart Turton

Stuart Turton on the advent of AI co-authors

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned

Wells Tower

‘Thanks to the easy wind bellying our sails, we crossed fast and sighted the island six days early.’