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Explore Essays and memoir

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.

Many Words for Heat, Many Words for Hate

Amitava Kumar

‘In Delhi the heat is chemical, something unworldly, a dry bandage or heating pad wrapped around the body.’

Memoir by Amitava Kumar.

Ausländer

Michael Moritz

‘We were Jews and we were living in plain sight.’

Memoir by Michael Moritz.

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 Schedule of Loss

Emily LaBarge

‘The Schedule of Loss is what can be heard, what can be tolerated, what can be borne by both teller and told.’

Memoir by Emily LaBarge.

To That Silence, I Told Everything

Xiao Yue Shan

‘To survive, difference was something that had to be mastered.’

Xiao Yue Shan on migration, absence and discovering a library at the end of the world.

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.

The Golden Record

Caspar Henderson

‘The two copies of the Golden Record were shot into space nearly fifty years ago.’

Caspar Henderson on music sent into space by NASA.

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.

The Last Place We Were Happy

TaraShea Nesbit

‘Our daughter had been born one month early, unbreathing. My husband and I drove to the last place we were happy.’

Memoir by TaraShea Nesbit.

Through the Smoke, Through the Veil, Through the Wind

Roger Reeves

‘In the middle of disaster, we made the unimaginable – joy.’

Roger Reeves on loss, memory and the legacy of slavery.

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.

Notes on Craft

Lee Lai

‘I’ve loved experiencing the page as a map, as something to be wandered across.’

Lee Lai on the function of page and panel in comics.