Destination: Zimbabwe

A Return to Zimbabwe

The theme for Granta’s latest issue is “Going Back,” and it features a compelling story from Owen Sheers about a return trip to Zimbabwe. I love the feel of the opening:

The knees of the soldier from the Presidential Guard are pressing against my spine through the driver’s seat. When he shifts his position they roll across my back like the mechanism of an airport massage chair.

The issue also includes an interview with Sheers.


Postcards From the ‘World’s Most Failed States’

There’s a Big Picture-esque slideshow at Foreign Policy, with some horrific and amazing shots from Chad, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and other unstable places. As Elizabeth Dickinson writes, sometimes you “only know a failed state when you see it.”


Dan Baum on Journalism and the Expat Life

In a recent series of tweets, the veteran reporter looked back on how he launched his career—by setting up as an independent foreign correspondent in Zimbabwe—and encourages young writers to follow suit. The tweets are collected on his website. Here’s a sample:

I still think going abroad—particularly to a place others avoid—is a way to make a name.

It’s a way to distinguish oneself from the mass of people who want to be writers.

It’s a way to call attention to oneself—by having something others don’t.

And it’s a way to do what we all got into this business for in the first place.

That is, to shine light into places the public needs to know about, but might otherwise miss.

(Thanks for the tip, Rob Verger)


Morning Links: Paul Theroux Spits From Trains, Swimsuit Issue Locales and More

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Morning Links: Road Tripping ‘Amexica,’ Titty Ho and More

Morning Links: Road Tripping ‘Amexica,’ Titty Ho and More Photo by Ian Muttoo via Flickr (Creative Commons)
Photo of Toronto by Ian Muttoo via Flickr (Creative Commons)

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Suffering and Smiling: Vanity Fair Does Africa

Africa is hot. Why? So we can save it? Frank Bures deconstructs the magazine's latest issue and what it says about Western views of the continent.

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