Notes from an Island
3.990 kr.For thirty summers Tove and her partner, the graphic artist, Tuulikki Pietilä, retreated to the tiny island of Klovharun, a rocky outcrop in the gulf of Finland, where they would live, paint and write, energised by the shifting seascapes and the island’s austere charms. Notes from an Island, offers both a memoir of, and homage to, this beloved island home. Tove’s spare prose, and Tuulikki’s subtle washes and aquatints, combine to form a work of meditative beauty.
This edition includes the first UK publication of Tove’s acclaimed 1961 essay/prose poem, The Island.
We Are Not Numbers: The Voices of Gaza’s Youth
4.390 kr.A teenage girl stares at her roof, hoping it won’t collapse over her head. A young student searches the Internet for photos of libraries around the world, hoping he’ll be able to visit them one day. Another walks around the city, taking notes of all the buildings she dreams of repairing.
These are the stories of young people from Gaza, born under Israeli occupation and blockade. They are people who have endured unspeakable struggles and losses, who keep fighting to be recognised not as numbers, but as human beings with hopes, dreams and lives worth living.
We Are Not Numbers was founded in 2014 to give voice to the youth of Gaza. In this collection, vital, urgent and full of heart, spanning over ten years to the present moment, we gain an unparalleled insight into the past, as well as the current and next generation of Palestinian leaders, artists, scientists and scholars and imagine where we might go from here.
On Cats: An Anthology
4.390 kr.In these pages, writers reflect on the curious feline qualities that inspire such devotion in their owners, even when it seems one-sided. Cats’ affections are hard-won and often fickle. Freud considered his cat an embodiment of true egoism; Hilaire Belloc found peace in his feline companion’s complacency; and Hemingway—a famous cat-lover—wrote of drinking with his eleven cats and the pleasant distraction they gave him.
Edward Gorey can’t turn down a stray despite the trouble they cause him, and admits he has no idea what they’re thinking about; Muriel Spark gives practical advice on how to teach a cat to play ping-pong; Nikola Tesla, who helped design the modern electricity supply system, describes a seminal experience with a cat that first sparked his fascination with electricity; and Caitlin Moran considers the unexpected feelings of loss after the death of her family cat.
These writers, and many others (including Mary Gaitskill, Alice Walker, Ursula K. Le Guin, John Keats, James Bowen, Lynne Truss, and more), paint a joyful portrait of cats and their mysterious and loveable ways. As Hemingway wrote, “one cat leads to another.” The book features six black-and-white cat portraits by photographer Elliot Ross.
In the Garden: Essay on Nature and Growing
3.490 kr.Outdoor space is something everyone should have access to. But you don’t need a garden to become a gardener.
Growing plants and vegetables forces us to pause, pay attention and look more closely. From the vantage point of even the smallest windowsill garden we can observe the passing of time through the shifting of the seasons, as well as the environmental changes the planet is undergoing.
In this collection of essays, fourteen writers go beyond simply considering a plot of soil to explore how gardening is a shared language, an opportunity for connection, something that is always evolving. Penelope Lively trains her gardening eye on her gardens past and present; Paul Mendez reflects on the image of the paradisal garden; Jon Day asks whether an urban community garden can be a radical place; and Victoria Adukwei Bulley considers the power of herbs and why there is no such thing as a weed.
A collection about gardening unlike any other, In the Garden brings together fourteen brilliant writers to interrogate what is most important and pressing about growing today.
Tales from the Heart : True Stories from my Childhood
2.490 kr.‘I walked in a daze of illusions toward my future.’
Deeply felt and told with an intrepid spirit, Tales from the Heart are the intimate, formative stories from the childhood of the legendary Caribbean writer, Maryse Condé. These affecting vignettes follow Condé’s early encounters with love, grief, friendship, as she navigates the pernicious legacy of slavery and colonialism in her home of Guadeloupe and as a student in Paris.
In The Kitchen: Essays on food and life
3.490 kr.‘A delightful collection of original, vibrant and heart-warming writing.’ – Nigel Slater
‘I learned that before entering the kitchen, I must get the measure of its hold over me.’
Food can embody our personal history as well as wider cultural histories. But what are the stories we tell ourselves about the kitchen, and how do we first come to it? How do the cookbooks we read shape us? Can cooking be a tool for connection in the kitchen and outside of it?
In these essays thirteen writers consider the subjects of cooking and eating and how they shape our lives, and the possibilities and limitations the kitchen poses. Rachel Roddy traces an alternative personal history through the cookers in her life; Rebecca May Johnson considers the radical potential of finger food; Ruby Tandoh discovers other definitions of sweetness through the work of writer Doreen Fernandez; Yemisí Aríbisálà remembers a love affair in which food failed as a language; and Julia Turshen considers food’s ties to community.
A collection to savour and inspire, In the Kitchen brings together thirteen contemporary writers whose work brilliantly explores food, capturing their reflections on their experiences in the kitchen and beyond.
Contributors
Juliet Annan
Yemisí Aríbisálà
Laura Freeman
Joel Golby
Daisy Johnson
Rebecca May Johnson
Rebecca Liu
Nina Mingya Powles
Ella Risbridger
Rachel Roddy
Mayukh Sen
Ruby Tandoh
Julia Turshen
‘A moving and beautiful tribute to food and taste and how these essential things wrap themselves round the colour of our lives.’ – Stylist
‘Immerse yourself in the culinary charms of this foodie essay collection.’ – Town & Country
‘This warming and varied collection of essays on food, cooking and all the emotions that get tangled up in the process, is a true balm.’ – New Statesman
‘In the Kitchen is literary comfort food for the soul and I heartily recommend it.’ – Idler
Like Love: Essays and Conversations
3.690 kr.Like Love is a momentous, raucous collection of essays drawn from twenty years of Maggie Nelson’s brilliant work. These profiles, reviews, remembrances, tributes and critical essays, as well as several conversations with friends and idols, bring to life Nelson’s passion for dialogue and dissent. The range of subjects is wide – from Prince to Carolee Schneemann to Matthew Barney to Lhasa de Sela to Kara Walker – but certain themes recur: intergenerational exchange; love and friendship; feminist and queer issues, especially as they shift over time; subversion, transgression and perversity; the roles of the critic and language in relation to visual and performance arts; forces that feed or impede certain bodies and creators; and the fruits and follies of a life spent devoted to making.
Arranged chronologically, Like Love shows the writing, thinking, feeling, reading, looking and conversing that occupied Nelson while writing iconic books such as Bluets and The Argonauts. As such, it is a portrait of a time, an anarchic party rich with wild guests, a window into Nelson’s own development and a testament to the profound sustenance offered by art and artists.
Unpacking My Library
2.490 kr.Every sort of passion verges on chaos, I know, but what the collecting passion verges on is a chaos of memories.’From intimate musings on his book collection, to a dream-like trip through the bustling streets of Marseille, each of these essays offers a compelling journey into the mind of one of the twentieth century’s most influential philosophers.
On Dogs: An Anthology
4.390 kr.Dogs throughout history have enjoyed a special relationship with humankind, and our favourite four-legged creatures continue to grow in popularity. The writers and poets collected within this anthology reflect on the joys and pitfalls of dog ownership with brilliant wit, insight, and affection. From Roald Amundsen’s account of using and eating sled dogs in his expedition to the South Pole, to J.R. Ackerley’s tender portrayal of his ill-behaved dog Tulip, ON DOGS traces the canine’s journey from working animal to pampered pet. With a humorous introduction by Tracey Ullman (an inveterate adopter of strays), and 6 characterful dog portraits by animal photographer Rhian ap Gruffydd and a cover image by Picasso of his dog Lump. Contributors include Alice Walker, Charles Dickens, James Thurber, Miranda Hart, Brigitte Bardot, A.A. Gill, David Sedaris, Barbara Woodhouse, and many more.
Essays on the Self
4.390 kr.Things I Don’t Want to Know is a unique response to George Orwell from one of our most vital contemporary writers. Taking Orwell’s famous list of motives for writing as the jumping-off point for a sequence of thrilling reflections on the writing life, this is a perfect companion not just to Orwell’s essay, but also to Levy’s own, essential oeuvre.
Things I Don’t Want to Know: A Response to George Orwell’s Why I Write
3.990 kr.Things I Don’t Want to Know is a unique response to George Orwell from one of our most vital contemporary writers. Taking Orwell’s famous list of motives for writing as the jumping-off point for a sequence of thrilling reflections on the writing life, this is a perfect companion not just to Orwell’s essay, but also to Levy’s own, essential oeuvre.
