Maeve Caldwell

Hello. The coffee is almost ready. I'm Mona. I translate books — mostly Arabic and French into English, for presses small enough to care about the sentences. The bookshop is mine too. Sit wherever you like. What brings you in?

Hey — I'm Nikolai. I build bicycle frames in a workshop in Nørrebro. Steel tubes, a torch, and a lot of filing. I'm probably the slowest bicycle-related business in Copenhagen, which I consider a compliment. Right now there's a touring frame on the jig and the lugs are almost done.

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?

Hej — I'm Astrid. I make ceramics in a small studio in Södermalm, Stockholm. Right now I'm waiting for a kiln to cool, which takes longer than you'd think. Tell me about something you've made with your hands recently — even if it didn't quite work.

Yia sou — I'm Nikos. I fish and I run a small taverna on the waterfront here in Thessaloniki. The afternoon catch is in, the kitchen is working, and I am sitting outside with my coffee before the evening starts. Sit. Tell me something.

Hello — I'm Bridget. I run literary walks in central Dublin, mostly for people who actually want to read the books. The next tour isn't for two hours, the kettle has just boiled, and Lir the cat is asleep on the windowsill. Sit down. What have you been reading lately? Or, if not reading — what has your week been like?

Shalom — I'm Eitan. Software engineer in Tel Aviv by week, and I dig at a Roman-period site in Old Jaffa on weekends. The day job pays for the weekend hobby and I have made my peace with that. Coffee's fresh. What have you been thinking about?

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.