Fellow Denizens of the Cables

¡Salud!

Here’s a glimpse of Antoine d’Agata’s “I’m Starting to Feel the Pain” (2020), an evocation of our permanent status as virtual beings if ever there was one:

But for a taste of November, 2020, I did this auralgraph for Doek magazine when my fantastic friend Rémy Ngamije asked me to, five years ago:

Later there will be voices, live and recorded voices quarrelling and making love and posing questions. Whispers and chants. And all the while the asphalt buzzing, and the birdsong coming in and out of focus like stages of life. There will be voices cutting in and out of space and sound as time dissolves instead of passing. Two girls playing. A policeman asking about a juice shop. Domino players making fun of each other. It is only by listening that I can see people are everywhere. They are in underground rooms looking up and out. They are behind rubbish heaps, in darkened passageways. They are underneath vehicles. And the motorcycles farting and braking like surf. And the runners not running for sport but to catch a microbus that will not quite stop for them to board. Soon the azan will blare out of loudspeakers and the birds will be silent again.

Anyway, sorry this is coming so soon after my last message—I thought I’d let you know about an online talk/conversation on The Dissenters you might like to attend. It’s happening on Sunday, November 16 at 13:30 PM EST (that is 20:30 PM Cairo time), and though intended for NYU graduate students it is open to everyone.

I also want to share my Kismet magazine interview, prompted by “Mercy and Light” (now part of Postmuslim, by the way, to appear with Graywolf on Sept 15, 2026), which as you can see also takes the form of a newsletter. As well as the news that my wonderful UK publisher Peninsula Press will be doing the new book too…