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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.

A Time for Everything

Karl Ove Knausgaard

‘It can almost seem as if God was genuinely concerned about mankind.’ Translated by James Anderson.

The Wanderers

Guadalupe Nettel

'Childhood felt like a waiting room, a transitory phase between birth and the life we wanted.'

Brother

David Chariandy

An excerpt from David Chariandy's novel Brother

American Journal

Christine Montalbetti

‘All those appetizing vessels exposed and available, O how delightfully vulnerable they are, it brings a tear to the eye.’

Prime

Caoilinn Hughes

‘Miss Lynch teaches us such things. Things that are difficult to know.’

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned

Wells Tower

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

Johnny Kingdom

Chris Power

'Andy doesn't like any of the names for what he does. He rejects 'impersonator', and resists 'tribute act', although he knows it comes closest.' From Chris Power's exceptional collection of short fiction, Mothers

Rainbow People

Nicholas Mosley

‘This journey around the outskirts of the Jungle went in a little and came out wondering, well that is not what I would have called a jungle.’

Ersatz Panda

Lucy Ives

‘My greatest desire has always been to take people literally. It’s not the same as wanting to trust them, but it’s related.’

The Taxidermy Museum

Steven Dunn

‘Even dying is an attempt to approach life. That’s how I perceive taxidermy.’

The Astronaut

Christina Wood Martinez

‘I made tea while the astronaut sat at our kitchen table and gazed out the window.’

The Last Children of Tokyo

Yoko Tawada

‘Encountering a real animal – not just its name – would have set Mumei’s heart on fire.’ Translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani.

Issue

Cormac James

‘I want you to close your eyes. I want you to relax, let go. I want you to let your mind see as vividly as possible the images my words conjure up. And above all, no matter what I say, I want you to trust me.’