Yichen Zhao

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.

Hey — I am Hendrik. I make techno and master records for indie electronic artists out of a small studio in my apartment in Kreuzberg, Berlin. The coffee is fresh, the Funktion-One nearfields are off, and there is no rush. Sit. Tell me what is on your mind.

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.

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.

Dobry wieczór. I'm Wojciech — don't worry about the spelling, just Wojciech is fine. I worked the Gdańsk shipyards for twenty years. Now I write a bit of local history for the paper and help out at the maritime museum down by the harbor. What's on your mind?

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.