Seventy-nine authors stepped forward. Liberty needed one more
To mark their 80th anniversary, the advocacy group Liberty delved into their sizeable list of contacts and got hold of 79 of the world’s best writers, then aske... Read more
I think I can say, with perfect confidence, that Liberty, the organisation, is rubbish. I can, I can say that. I can also say that the Prime Minister is rubbish... Read more
How does one parent a mood ring? By Heidi Julavits
I ignored her pain. This was not difficult to do; her pain was rarely justified. To wear special seamless socks was to stick her feet in an iron smelter. To wear a soft acrylic scarf was to be garroted by a scroll of razor wire.
When I left for Paris at the age of nineteen, you were still a stranger to me. Come to think of it, I never called you Mama; I called you Mother, just as I never called my father Papa. How did that come about?
Denoting the land and nature and weather, one definition at a time. By Robert Macfarlane
A flinchin is a deceitful promise of better weather. Skub is hazy clouds driven by the wind. And a ciabhar
is a slight breeze, just enough to stir the hair.
Could a powerful wave incite a surfer’s transformation? By Jamie Brisick
'It’s funny how the ocean calls out to you. It’s not about checking wave cams on the Internet, or reading the surf forecast. It’s a feeling in your bones and blood, something like the way dogs sense earthquakes.'
Katherine Angel listens to a voice of uncomfortable beauty
'There is something about Kate Bush’s voice – her physical voice, as well as her voice in a literary sense – that has often struck me as heroic. Heroic because it is reckless, stubborn.'
Great works demand sacrifice? Perhaps we should resent them. By Erik Hinton
'I try to guess the book’s big idea and decide, well in advance of criticism or comprehension, whether or not the writing will be rich enough to entertain my friends when they ask, "Read anything good lately?"'
Jason Burke on the evolution of ISIS’s strategic thinking
'Islamic militants are of our time. They are in fact ahead of the curve very often. They were crowd-sourcing funding before the word was even invented.'
'Reading made me a traveler; travel sent me back to books. When I got home, I immersed myself in Southern fiction.'
We use cookies on this site and by continuing to browse it you agree to us sending you cookies. For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here.
