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On the Avenue
I didn’t know him, but he knew me. He knew Harlem, he knew poetry, he knew Jesus, and he knew my mother. He knew sin. I did not know… More
International Noir
The first thing I ever knew about Simenon was that he’d written an entire novel while enclosed in a glass booth in full view of the public. I heard… More
Quixote at 400
We may have our own personal opinions of an average writer, but in front of Don Quixote, we are all interchangeable. Conscripts of fate line up in front of… More
The Way We Love Now: Natsuo Kirino
Eroticism and its various definitions exist in paradox. It’s the nature of human beings to be held captive by eroticism. Even while longing to be set free, we still… More
Africa and the World
ZAKES MDA: I will read a passage here from The Whale Caller, which is a novel set in South Africa in a small town called Hermanus. Hermanus is well… More
Quixote at 400
In any case, since the book is supposed to be real, it follows that the story has to be written by an eyewitness to the events that take place… More
Africa and the World
I’ve been asked very loosely to think about the relationship of African writers and Africa at large to American writing. An enormous topic, of course, but I’ll offer a… More
The Way We Love Now: Elif Shafak
I will talk about how I interpret the relationship between sexuality and fiction writing and the relationship between sexuality and the fiction writer. Most of my remarks will be… More
The Way We Love Now: Peter Stamm
I wanted to talk about love in Switzerland, but the country is so small, there’s really not much to say. Only one detail: In Swiss-German “love” is not a… More
Africa and the World: Writers at Home and Away
ACHMAT DANGOR: History. We all have our stories.Forty years ago, at the eager age of sixteen, I had to appear before a race-classification board in Pretoria, South Africa, because… More