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Explore Essays and memoir

Caleb Klaces | Notes on Craft

Caleb Klaces

Caleb Klaces on being inspired by Van Gogh’s third image, found during the X-ray scanning of one of Van Gogh’s early, repainted canvases.

Jem Calder | Notes on Craft

Jem Calder

‘I wrote in the address bar of my web browser, in spreadsheet cells, in emails I addressed to myself.’ Jem Calder on writing fiction at his day job.

Introduction

Sigrid Rausing

‘We take our theme from Pwaangulongii Dauod’s remarkable eulogy to the late Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina.’

Editor Sigrid Rausing introduces Granta’s 150th issue.

Carolyn

Andrew O'Hagan

‘Where was Denver in all of this, or the wide open road to Mexico, or the woman, hip to the souls of sensitive men, who was played on-screen by Sissy Spacek and later by Kirsten Dunst?’

Andrew O’Hagan remembers Carolyn Cassady, beat writer and widow of Neal Cassady.

A Portrait of My Mother

Michael Collins (Photographer)

Photographer Michael Collins on his mother’s life following a series of strokes.

Why We Walk

Ian Willms & Adam Foulds

‘There are glimmers of the reality beyond, the promise of redemption even in the darkest places.’

Adam Foulds introduces the photography of Ian Willms.

Binyavanga

Pwaangulongii Dauod

‘There are many writers, including myself, who owe their careers to Binyavanga. He was the most generous writer of his generation.’

Pwaangulongii Dauod remembers the late Binyavanga Wainaina.

Japanese Wives

Noriko Hayashi

‘Every time I remember that moment, I can’t help but cry. I was only twenty-one years old.’

A photoessay by Noriko Hayashi.

The Second Career of Michael Riegels

Oliver Bullough

‘The new law was technical and complicated, but created something genuinely new: the international business company, a hyper-deregulated shell corporation.’

Oliver Bullough investigates the history of shell companies in the British Virgin Islands.

History is a Music Box

Channa Riedel

‘My hands are cupped around the names written on the tablets of stone.’

Oath to the Queen

Xiaolu Guo

Xiaolu Guo on The Archers, the Life in the UK Test and swearing allegiance to the Queen.

Jaan Kaplinski | On Europe

Jaan Kaplinski

‘For European thinkers, defining things has always been a serious hobby.’

Jaan Kaplinski on Europe.

Kidzania

Katy Whitehead

‘Get ready for a better world.’

Katy Whitehead on synthetic fun.

The Third Rainbow Girl

Emma Copley Eisenberg

‘I felt ruined by my time in Pocahontas County – no other place would ever be so good.’

An excerpt from Emma Copley Eisenberg’s The Third Rainbow Girl.