If there’s a joy in translating artist biographies, which despite their mundane commercial purpose are often well considered and well written, it’s discovering something new and enticing. The No Format! label is a dependable source for such discoveries. I’m not a big connoisseur of Cuban music, but it’s always a boon to hear something young…
The French writer and philosopher Michel Onfray wrote this essay as an introduction to a photobook called Correspondances, featuring images of Mont-Saint-Michel and its surroundings by photographer Richard Volante. The book emerged from a residency that Volante undertook in and around the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, during which he met local residents and found out about…
Simonobisick is a character from Blick Bassy’s remarkable novel Le Moabi Cinema. He spends his time hanging out with his mates in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon in West Africa. None of them have jobs, or much in the way of prospects. They sit around drinking large amounts of beer, dreaming of wealth, of bagging a…
Some years ago, I was asked to translate the lyrics to Cinema El Mundo, one of my favourite albums by Lo’Jo. I felt blessed in several ways; by the chance to work with Lo’Jo, a band I love; by the opportunity to translate the words of Lo’Jo’s lead singer Denis Péan, a true poet if…
Simonobisick is a character from Blick Bassy’s novel ‘Le Moabi Cinema.’ This letter from the novel, which Simonobisick writes to his mum, reads like a statement of Africa’s frustrated youth.
