Some time ago, I read Maria Stepanova’s essay The Suitcase of Language, published in Equator. It had been a long time since I had come across a text that made me nod in agreement so often. Stepanova describes the fate of the new Russian émigrés after the war in Ukraine – people…

I suppose many of you have heard that now-iconic Beckett quote: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. The fact that I’m beginning to reflect on this particular theme is, of course, no coincidence. Failure as theory and failure as reality are two…

He woke with the vivid sense that he had just spoken to her in French – and not informally, but using vous. The surprise struck a little later, as he gradually came to, realising that French wasn’t a language he could actually speak – not when awake, at any rate. He tried to…

Beyond the ruined Ghost Park, the Ghost Forest has changed once again.