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Explore Essays and memoir

The University of Nigeria

Ike Anya

‘There is a sense of carnival mingled with outrage, especially for us since this is our first demonstration.’

Ike Anya on universities, financial cuts and student protest.

On the Anxieties of Translation

Ned Beauman

Ned Beauman on his translation into Assamese, and where being named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists took him.

Listlessness

Christy Edwall

‘The listless mind is one which defers rather than tries to bring about closure. There is always one more tab to open.’

Christy Edwall on listlessness in twenty-first century fiction.

Loopholes

Tice Cin

‘If you’re raised without these codes, if you’re not from ends, you won’t find the routes and you won’t find us.’

Tice Cin on class, housing estates and hood surrealism.

For the Love of Losing

Marina Benjamin

‘Winning, it turns out, was the cracking whip that meant gamblers had to stay where they were until they lost their money all over again.’

Marina Benjamin on losing.

Hôtel Casanova

Annie Ernaux

‘I never asked myself if I loved P. But nothing could have kept me from going to make love with him at the Hôtel Casanova.’

Memoir by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L. Strayer.

The Public and Private Performance of the Deaf Body

Raymond Antrobus

‘There was always cynicism about Ray being a deaf novelty act.’

Raymond Antrobus on performance, Deafness and Johnnie Ray.

The Antigua Journals (What Is a Homeland)

Chanelle Benz

‘I am used to not belonging; it is, you could say, my brand.’

Chanelle Benz on reuniting with her father in Antigua.

Ordinary People

Richard Eyre

‘Is it courage? Is it stoicism? Is it wilful lack of imagination?’

Richard Eyre on family histories and what it means to be ordinary.

Notes on Craft

Aidan Cottrell-Boyce

‘The whole episode is a miracle and much of the miracle is in the muscles of Carmela’s face.’

Aidan Cottrell-Boyce on craft, nuance and The Sopranos.

Ray & Her Sisters

Sara Baume

‘Ray is the only sister to win a scholarship to boarding school.’

Sara Baume tells the story of her grandmother’s life.

My Eye

Suzanne Brøgger

‘You were Father’s and I was Mother’s.’

Memoir by Suzanne Brøgger, translated from the Danish by Caroline Waight.

The Erl-King

Emma Cline

‘He was our younger sister’s baby – her and her husband’s baby, I guess. They were young parents and excessively chill.’

Memoir by Emma Cline.

Radius: A Story of Feminist Revolution

Yasmin El-Rifae

‘The only thing that was clear was that the square would be full, and Opantish had to be ready.’

An excerpt from Yasmin El-Rifae’s account of the Egyptian revolution and its aftermath, Radius.