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The True Depth of a Cave

Rachel Kushner

‘When you live underground, among the things you discover is that you are not alone.’

Fiction by Rachel Kushner.

Nettle Tea

Camilla Grudova

‘“Love is a matter of yeast,” he said.’

A story by Camilla Grudova.

The Accursed Mountains

Christian Lorentzen

‘The heart was something that healed, but the best you could do with a broken tooth was to keep it in your pocket.’

Christian Lorentzen on tooth extraction.

The Darién Gap

Carlos Fonseca

‘He thinks of himself as a man who has learned to be white by living among white people, though all it takes is a look in the mirror to realize his error.’

Fiction by Carlos Fonseca, translated by Jessica Sequeira.

All Fours

Miranda July

‘We decided then to tell each other exactly how a typical fuck played out in our marriages. We couldn’t believe we’d never done this before.’

Fiction by Miranda July.

The Alternatives

Caoilinn Hughes

‘What does that mean, vegan cheese? asks a lady who’d had no query about amuse-bouche.’

An extract from The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes.

The New Life

Tom Crewe

‘He knew that he did not want it to stop, that he could not escape the grip of this terrible excitement.’

Fiction by Tom Crewe.

Kings Of Cool Crest

Kate Lister Campbell

‘Fifty years I’ve played here, except for stretches in Arizona and Mississippi, after my divorce.’

Fiction by Kate Lister Campbell.

Buttermilk and Liverwurst

Phil Crockett Thomas

‘Incredibly, where her neck had once been, she could now see right through to the faded paisley paper on the opposite wall.’

Fiction from Phil Crockett Thomas.

Repetition

Vigdis Hjorth

‘The people she longed to be understood by, the ones at whom her anxious hope was pinned, were her parents.’

Fiction by Vigdis Hjorth, translated by Charlotte Barslund.

The Sensitivity Reader

Andrew O’Hagan

‘Human nature is not improved by concealment, especially when it comes to the past.’

A short story by Andrew O’Hagan.

Yr Dead

Sam Sax

‘Behind the 7/11 after dark, anything is possible.’

Fiction by Sam Sax.

Stalin, Lenin, Robespierre

Brandon Taylor

‘He tried to think about what sort of person he wanted to be in this world and how he might bring that about.’

Fiction by Brandon Taylor.

The Attaché’s Wife

Karan Mahajan

“I’m from here. I grew up here. In fact, that’s why the government invited me back for this work.”

Short fiction by Karan Mahajan.