I feel the sadness of the city, a sadness all the more powerful because everything around suggests that there is nothing to be sad about.

«BLACK PAPER – Writing in a Dark Time» by TEJU COLE

A new, beautifully disturbing essay collection by Teju Cole. If I am to highlight some of them …

1) “After Caravaggio”, EXCELLENT; one of the best essays I’ve ever read – a work of art in its own right.

2) “Gossamer World: On Santu Mofokeng”, a beautiful text introducing me to a wonderful body of work I didn’t know existed.

Santu Mofokeng Chief More’s Funeral, GaMogopa (1989).

3) “A Time for Refusal”, short, sharp, disturbing.

On another day I might have chosen otherwise (except for the Caravaggio one which will always be a favourite) – so many good texts to choose from.

Teju Cole is a novelist, photographer, critic, curator, and the author of seven books, which include Open City, Blind Spot, and Golden Apple of the Sun. He was the photography critic of the New York Times Magazine from 2015 until 2019. A 2018 Guggenheim Fellow, he is currently the Gore Vidal Professor of the Practice of Creative Writing at Harvard.