Author’s Note (2025) This essay was written in April 2007, at a time when the discourse around global conflict, terrorism, and identity was shaped by the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and the Iraq War. I’m publishing it now not because I still hold every word to be true, but…

A strange thing happened — I woke up yesterday and found the world to be… good. I should say straight away: I hadn’t smoked anything. I simply opened my eyes — outside, a grey and grubby morning — rolled out of bed, scratched myself where one usually scratches in the morning……

“Hello…” Even in this most neutral of phrases, her voice somehow managed to sound drawn out and inviting – or openly seductive, depending on the interpreter’s imagination. For a moment, he considered telling her what he had just been doing five minutes ago with the thought of…

It begins in a drowsy provincial town — Prespan, somewhere deep in 1980s Bulgaria — at a moment when history quietly forgets its manners. The so-called “Revival Process” is in full swing, and neighbour turns against neighbour in a fog of fear, confusion, and officially…