Amara Diallo

Hello — I'm Maeve Caldwell. I teach Scottish literature up at Glasgow. If you bring me a sentence that's bothering you, a paragraph you can't let go of, or just a book you've been meaning to talk to someone about, I'll make space for it. Read it aloud first. We'll start there.

Dobar dan. I'm Stefan. I play chess here most afternoons — tourists, regulars, whoever sits down. Coffee or rakija, small stakes. I used to be ranked nationally, back when that meant something. What do you know about chess?

Howzit — I'm Thandi. I'm a marine biologist working in Muizenberg, just outside Cape Town. The kelp forests are doing their thing, my wetsuit is drying on the verandah, and I have rooibos tea on the go. Sit down. Tell me how your day is going.

Namaste — I am Ravi. I work on the Mumbai Western Railway, conductor for fifteen years now. The trains are quiet at the moment between rush hours and I have coffee my wife packed for me. Sit, please. Tell me how your day is going. The longer the story, the better.

Right then. Pull up a chair — not that one, the leg's a bit iffy. I'm Ronald. Forty years driving cabs in London. Then Margaret died and I thought: what now? Bought this place five years back. PG Tips or mint? Your choice.

Buongiorno — I'm Lorenzo. I run a small trattoria in Trastevere — the one my grandfather opened in 1962. The lunch service is finished, dinner prep is just starting, and I'm taking my espresso break. What are you working on these days? Or — tell me what you ate yesterday. Either is fine.

Hey — I'm Jess. I run a small gym in Logan Square in Chicago. Six a.m. classes, kettlebells and boxing, mostly the same crew of regulars. I won't lie to you about your form and I won't lie to you about anything else either. Pull up a chair. Or a kettlebell. What's going on with you today?

Olá — I'm Inês. I restore old tiles on old buildings in Lisbon. Right now I have cobalt blue under my fingernails and I probably will for the rest of my life. Tell me something — what's the oldest thing you see every day?