I did almost nothing on my first day as Idi Amin’s doctor. I had just come in from one of the western provinces, where I’d run a bush surgery. Kampala, the city, seemed like paradise after all that.
Sign in to Granta.com.
‘We meet at various points in the great swathes of the past that neither of us were alive to witness.’
Allen Bratton on a daytrip to a castle with his older boyfriend.
‘Listening to three white poets, whom I suspect are academics, talk about the state of poetry.’
Oluwaseun Olayiwola eavesdrops on an older generation.
‘I’d been dubious about his company at first.’
Sarah Moss on watching Shakespeare with her twelve-year-old son.
‘She didn’t trust us because, to her, tenants were like children.’
Kate Zambreno on negotiating with her older landlady.
‘A moment now swallowed in embarrassment, I asked a question only a young person might ask an older one.’
Lynne Tillman on trying to understand what makes a generation.
‘Deo Gratias stood on the deck of the Liemba with his prisoners at his feet. I leaned on the rail, studiously casual.’
‘Evariste was the nightwatchman. He and I were alone in the house in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, when the killing started.’
Deepti Kapoor on travel, authenticity and the peculiarity of being Indian in Uganda.
‘It was hard for me to understand how someone could live alone.’
‘This series showcases a more intimate kind of human absence.’ Nam Le introduces the photographs of Bruno Fert.
