language

Here’s a queer question. What are your impossible stories?

What are your impossible stories? There’s a quote that’s stuck with me this past month or so, and it’s from the writer, Saidiya Hartman, whose book, ‘Lose Your Mother’ has me gripped this January. Elsewhere, in another one of her works, she’s posed the question: ‘How do we tell impossible stories, and how do we […]

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At Musee Tiskiwin

What’s in a name? Coming out as Andrew Kaufman

I’ve been called various things throughout my 39 years.

At school I was called ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Igor’ (the character in cartoon, ‘Count Duckula’) and ‘Gonzo’ and various other nicknames, owing to my prominent nose. I now plan to reclaim my family past, reclaim my name from its early 20th century past. I’m coming out as Andrew Kaufman.

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Travel teasers

Lviv’s locals joke about their city being the London of Ukraine. They are not referring to the cost of eating out. The city surprises you at every turn with its attractive restaurants, generously portioned dishes and reasonable prices. But to the rest of Ukraine, the city is known for its rain. A guidebook advised me to bring both my sunglasses and my umbrella, and in the event, I needed both.

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Vignettes in what used to be Vichy France

The more I’ve read around the subject and listened to lectures, the more I understand there’s a Myth of the Resistance. Sure, millions did resist the Nazis, and there are many reasons French people can stand tall and celebrate this history of Resistance. But there’s something about the June 18th anniversary which doesn’t quite work when you read Charles de Gaulle was seen as rather an oddball himself.

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