BackStory: Five Questions with Mileva Anastasiadou Author of rEVOLt What inspired you to write ‘Revolt’? The Polytechnic Uprising took place in Greece in November 1973, starting as a students demonstration against the military junta imposed in 1967, and ending on…
rEVOLt
rEVOLt by Mileva Anastasiadou She’d never forget that day, that glorious day of protest, a joyful day at first, as joyful days are when change is around the corner. She’d never forget his hand in hers, the warmth of his…
BackStory: Eight Questions with Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
BackStory: Eight Questions with Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi Author of This House What inspired you to write ‘This House’? The Ife/Modakeke crises in the south-western part of Nigeria. Were there any interesting facts, details, or turns of phrase that didn’t quite…
This House
This House by Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi I mustn’t take a step further. This house hoards the memories that shred before me. My father, sitting on his long back chair, holding his pipe in his hand, blowing flames into the air.…
BackStory: Six Questions with Mehreen Ahmed
BackStory: Six Questions with Mehreen Ahmed Author of East Bengal, 1971 What inspired you to write ‘East Bengal, 1971’? I was reading an article on the Bangladesh Independence movement of 1971 one day in a newspaper. The article was about…
East Bengal, 1971
East Bengal, 1971 by Mehreen Ahmed It was lunch time in Madhupur. Taramon, a motherless farmer’s daughter of 24, was just getting ready to sit down with her four siblings for lunch. Their father had left for the field early…
BackStory: Four Questions with Cathy Ulrich
BackStory: Five Questions with Cathy Ulrich Author of Something That Can Never be Held What inspired you to write ‘Something That Can Never be Held’? I recently got a new book about Bonnie and Clyde (side note: it’s fine, but…
Something That Can Never be Held
Something That Can Never be Held by Cathy Ulrich You are being photographed with a stolen camera. You are pretending to smoke a cigar, you are wearing your best dress, you are holding a shotgun. You are going to…
BackStory: Five Questions with Carolyn Oliver
BackStory: Five Questions with Carolyn Oliver Author of Infanta What inspired you to write ‘Infanta’? I intended this piece as a companion to Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess, a stately dance that, thanks to its title, tends (for me,…
Infanta
Infanta by Carolyn Oliver after Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess Infanta, you dance as a gull sways on a salt breeze, as a fan swings closed between jewelled fingers, as a whisper stalls in a hot room. Eyes tally…