Kevin Brazil

2 months ago | the-tls.co.uk | John Arlidge |Beejay Silcox |Kevin Brazil |Richard Smyth

Philip Larkin’s view of what parents do to their children might explain why “tech bros” have the ability, determination and drive needed to become global disruptors. Elon Musk’s combative relationship with his father instilled a drive to overcome any obstacle. Steve Jobs, who was given up for adoption, told his biographer Walter Isaacson: “Knowing I was adopted may have made me feel more independent”.

2 months ago | the-tls.co.uk | Randy Boyagoda |Toby Lichtig |Kevin Brazil |Claire Lowdon

The opening sequence of Kev Lambert’s May Our Joy Endure signals the novel’s intent. Lambert devotes whole pages of prose to the sights, sounds and smells, and the inner lives of guests, at a decadent birthday party at a private residence in a skyscraper in Montreal. Suggestive of the novel’s larger dynamics, the paragraph-length sentences pile up to balance on a one-word, standalone sentence: “Céline”.

2 months ago | the-tls.co.uk | Beejay Silcox |Kevin Brazil |Richard Smyth |Noreen Masud

There has been a great deal of institutional handwringing since the Australian writer Richard Flanagan won – and politely accepted – the 2024 Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction in November, but spurned the attendant cash. (He said he would not accept the £50,000 prize money until the financial management firm commits to a reduction in fossil-fuel investment).

Jun 10, 2024 | memoirland.substack.com | Cathrin Bradbury |Kevin Brazil |Danny Goodman |Laurie Joachim

Welcome to Memoir Land—a newsletter edited by , now featuring four verticals:Memoir Monday, a weekly curation of the best personal essays from around the web brought to you by Narratively, The Rumpus,  Granta, Guernica, Oldster Magazine, Literary Hub, Orion Magazine, The Walrus, and Electric Literature. Below is this week’s curation. First Person Singular, featuring original personal essays. Recently I published “Fleeing Toxic London, Finding Possibilities in Experimental Writing” by .

Dec 6, 2023 | thebaffler.com | Kevin Brazil

The first time I met someone who was gay, or rather, who I knew was gay—a crucial distinction —was in a gay bar. This was a time before smart phones, before I had access to the internet at home, and while I had heard that LGBT support groups existed in some high schools, they definitely didn’t exist in mine. So there was nothing else for it: I walked into a bar called The George in Dublin and ordered myself a Diet Coke. After not very long at all, a man with greasy curly hair sat down beside me.