In her poem, actor and poet Anna McKelvie cleverly employs the metaphor of a boat at sea to express the difficulties, uncertainty and camaraderie experienced during the pandemic. Here, friendship triumphs over troubled waters.
In this compelling personal essay, Shamini Sriskandarajah recounts a year of trying to connect with friends over text, email, phone and post; of having to explain racism to one white friend and denounce violent sexism to another.
Following Lispector and Carrington in her pursuit of the surreal, Jen Calleja’s fantastical short story collection promises to leave a lasting impression, writes Jade French.
Sharp, witty and poignant, Jess Moody’s short fiction imagines the encounters and relationships that could have been enjoyed and nurtured were it not for lockdown.
In this heartfelt personal essay, artist Janyce Denise Glasper recalls the years of solid friendship she’s shared and enjoyed with writer Asia Aneka Anderson, the Angela Davis to her Toni Morrison.
Bringing together thirteen emerging artists between the ages of 16-25, the Barbican’s latest exhibition, It All Comes Down, explores how young people navigate the world and approach their artistic practise during the pandemic.
Artist Michèle Saint-Michel fuses poetry and music with news reportage in her powerful audio piece, The Immortal Charlie Parker. In it, she recounts her experience of reconnecting with a childhood friend during the early stages of the pandemic.
When her friend experienced the loss of a loved one, Alizah Hashmi was unsure how best to console her. In this personal essay, she reflects on how her friend’s loss helped her to realise that grief is unquantifiable, “infinite” and often comes without words.
In the first essay of her co-edited and co-conceived series, Disembodied Voices: Friendship during COVID-19, Sumaya Kassim reflects on the breakdown of a friendship, exploring feelings of abandonment, rejection and grief that led her to self-evaluate and cultivate new intimacy and care.
