One idea that really stuck with me after reading this book was the impossibility of turning away after restricting delineations (of language, gender, and the physical as a whole) begin to dissolve. I‘ve been thinking lately about how once you start to challenge your own narratives it‘s impossible to not start seeing—and then rejecting—lots of restrictive views. It‘s good to be questioning, to be curious.

A book about identities, bodies and language is just the kind of dense thematic fiction I usually enjoy. There were a lot of ideas here, but despite its beautifully translated prose style, this tangle of symbols and signifiers didn‘t add up for me. While this book gestures at the freedom that comes with the dissolution of social, semantic and personal norms, it‘s failure to engage with the pressure and power behind these norms rang hollow for me.

Treated myself to this beautiful pin with a quote from Act IV Scene 5 of Hamlet. Definitely recommend https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LiteraryEmporium for anyone else weak for a bit of Shakespeare and enamel pins.

Some heavy truth from Wolf in White Van. The quote is describing a game, but it‘s also a nod to a simple fact about every day that is sometimes easier to ignore. Hope everyone is pushing on and making progress this weekend.

Looking back on some of my favourite books to get inspired and think I‘ll re-read this one soon. This slim volume deals with some of the heaviest topics out there—serious TW for suicide—but it treats its characters with enormous sympathy and humanity. This book knows life is hard and deftly explores the choice we make every day we choose to keep going.

From “The Resident” - A thought I recognised from every time I‘ve had my work pinioned by the label of my identity. Any writers reading: you‘re more than a trope, and your ideas are broader and more important than the ways they are labelled.

Loved this collection of short stories. Each masterfully written, with haunting premises and beautifully crafted characters. There‘s a lot to unpack in each story. It‘s not a beach read; it‘s a critique and a mirror and a secret smile, a nod from a compatriot and the wrong path in the dark.

From Act III Scene 2. I‘ve read almost all of Shakespeare‘s plays, but only recently picked up Richard II. The language is stunning (no shock) and the interwoven imagery is a master class in thematic language. Also, I feel sympathy for Richard in spite of everything. My usual position is ‘eat the rich‘ but I can shed a tear for this disastrously flawed royal.

August is Women in Translation Month, and I will take any opportunity to rave about this book. It‘s one of my favourite novels, truly. It has nuanced characters I was deeply invested in. I will admit it‘s dense and almost shyly obtuse, but it‘s a world you can really sink into, and it will reward a reader willing to spend time with it. I‘ve read it twice and expect I‘ll still be discovering its secrets on my third pass. #womenintranslation

from the poem Politics of Elegy

A wonderful book of poetry; the language takes you by surprise, takes you by the hand, takes you on a journey. There are final lines that will shatter you. Queer themes and a close examination of death, grief, and mourning.