‘The beat of the city was shot through with drumming patterns used to invoke them in the Saturday night ceremonies.’
In 1986 I was living in Salvador da Bahia, the old capital of Brazil, learning Portuguese. I spent little time in the classroom. There was a beach at the end of the street. And scattered all round the city and in the shanty-towns beyond were the temples of Candomblé, the Afro-Brazilian religion of …
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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.
‘They show people denied access to markets that they enjoyed before the war, people impoverished by the fight to preserve their culture and to assert control of their territory.’
‘This is worth remembering: if it were not for Africa we would not be here at all.’
‘Twenty-five years after his death, His Imperial Majesty, King of Kings, Elect of God, Defender of the Faith,was finally being laid to rest, though they still could not be certain how he met his end.’
John Ryle attends the funeral of Haile Sellasie.
‘Bor is a long way from Khartoum – more than 700 miles. There were other hostile groups on the way and precious little food.’
‘Is there in fact a jostling for dominance between the art forms, some barely suppressed competitiveness?’
Adam Mars-Jones on music and ceremony.
‘Several times I’ve wanted to title something one thing, but have realized or been persuaded it isn’t a good idea.’
