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‘And brand-new switchblades / for future beards and defending our honour.’ A poem by Victor Heringer, translated from the Portuguese by James Young and Justin Greene.

‘The summons made clear that if I failed to turn up (which I had), a warrant could be issued for my arrest.’

‘The work was pastoral, somehow the artistic equivalent of really liking Wordsworth – just a little too pretty to be serious.’ Orlando Whitfield on taste.

‘That thing behind the door was so filthy, so repugnant, that I couldn’t imagine anyone I could call for help.’ Fiction by Marie Darrieussecq, translated by Penny Hueston.

‘Almost nobody has ever seen me cry. This has been true my entire life.’ Rachel Connolly on accessing vulnerability.

‘I know everything about this place, I remember everything.’ Helle Helle on writing fiction set in familiar places and the process of being translated.

‘One receives several rude awakenings, is shaken by the shoulders many times, punished many times, before even considering different choices.’

‘The festoonery interrupts the usual, how things are meant to be.’ Jeremy Atherton Lin on resenting Christmas.

‘I sensed, if you can believe it, that I was being fobbed off.’ Amber Husain on refusing free Botox.

‘Unlike the other Chopra men in the complex, Mohit knew how to concentrate his rage.’ An extract from The Complex by Karan Mahajan.