‘The city has defied many plans for its regeneration and its centre is a dispiriting mess’
The third week of November last year brought the first cold snap of the season. Across the North of England people woke to a white frost, followed by bright sunshine and clear blue skies. In Bradford, in north-west Yorkshire, where the overnight temperatures had dropped to minus five, Mario Buitrago…
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‘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.
‘Most family relationships are difficult, and sometimes they can become the most difficult human relationships of all.’
‘Photography always reveals truths about the relationship between the photographer and the person being photographed.’
‘Growing up is learning how to take a stance, before the camera and before the world.’
‘Question: ‘What do a Trabant and a condom have in common?’ Answer: ‘Both decrease the pleasure of the ride.’’
Durs Grünbein introduces photography by Martin Roemers.
Urvashi Butalia is the co-founder of Kali for Women, India’s first feminist press. She shares five things she’s reading, watching and thinking about right now.
