Essays

“Undifferentiated Brown Stuff”: Daljit Nagra and Travelling Poetry

In this collection, poetry becomes a way of signalling: we are not alone

On The Semantic Wonder of Foul Language

"Profanity conveys emotion in a manner that ‘cleaner’ language struggles to—and who wouldn’t want the ability to so powerfully and instantaneously express emotion?"

The Undaunted Poetry of Louise Glück

"Glück’s voice was shaped by bedtime stories narrated to her by her father, a Hungarian immigrant to the USA, who helped invent the X-Acto knife. The influence shows: her writing is as knife-sharp, incisive, and clean as a bone."

A Bestiary of Ugly Feelings

Rijneveld slips into pettier, liminal emotions, masterfully creating cross-sections of envy, guilt, and boredom in 'The Discomfort of Evening.'

Live-streaming Lord Ganesha: Of Festivals and Pandemics

Devotees around India adapt to usher in their beloved deity during virus-ridden times.

We Are One: Film Festivals and Pandemics

The transformation of film festivals in the shadow of a pandemic

Experiences of London’s Popular Music in the Nineteen-Sixties

A decade of musical vibrancy—from Hendrix’s first London gig to Jagger’s troublesome locks

The Intimate Relationship Between the Private and the Public in Tamil Sangam Poetry

““It seems to me,” she said, “that poetry does two things: it either contracts its surrounding space or expands on it.””

The Fate of Western Classical Music

From pandemic-borne havoc to systemic problems the industry must overcome

Reinhart Koselleck and The History Question

The ways we place ourselves in the grand scheme of things