The brilliant @mendezauthor examines two works writing into queer experience and legibility in our special issue non-fiction review @travisalabanza ’s acclaimed None Of The Above and Fire In Every Direction by Tareq Baconi. 🔗 in bio
‘Anybody can learn a recipe an execute it, with enough practice, to perfection, but the virtuosic flair of a true chef or cook will always produce better results’, opens Taíno Mendez in their latest article on Close Up - an exploration of AI and the future of the novel - link in bio to access. Image by Missohio Studio #ai #reflection #writer #review #thefuture
Prompted by pub banter, I actually had to sit down and think about whether I do feel vulnerable, as a writer, to being marginalised by AI, but as I’ve never not been marginalised… 🤷🏾♂️
@writersmosaic Close Up, online now
For @10menmagazine Issue 63, I wrote on “What Makes A Modern Man Sexy”, which isn’t always obvious, but I gave it my best. I thought about the wonderful men in my life who help me to feel safe and seen. I can’t remember if I said this, but let it be known that, beyond aesthetics, men who stand up for people whose identities they do not share, and who are politicised in ways they never are, without immediate reward, get their 10s from me.
Gorgeous illustrations by @mrdavidlock
Taíno Mendez appraises the tongue-in-cheek production of Othello, directed by Tom Morris, showing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, until 17 January 2026 - link in bio to read their review in full #review #theatre #othello #shakespeare
“If Black Skin, White Masks had been placed in my hands at 15, [it] might have helped better prepare me for life encased in a black, male body”, this is Taíno Mendez, whose Mosaic Monologue in our current original series, ‘The person and the nation’ is an exploration of the cognitive dissonance Fanon understood that black people experience in pursuing assimilation that leads to loss of identity and authenticity - link in bio to listen in full #culture #globalmajority #review #writers #critic
Black Skin, White Masks (1952) and The Wretched of the Earth (1961) by the Afro-Caribbean writer Frantz Fanon are classics of anti-colonial literature. Ten writers explore Fanon’s legacy, his radical work as a psychiatrist, his writing, and his commitment towards independent movements - all part of a remarkable life that came to an end when Fanon died from cancer aged just 36. The is our latest original series edited by Colin Grant whose Editorial marks the beginning - link in bio to access #culture #globalmajority #fanon #migration #review #review #writers #psychiatrist
Me in today’s Observer – a personal, if sadly distant, take on Jamaica’s vulnerability in the climate emergency, and why reparations are important to equip global south nations for the future
Link to full article in bio
I learned from RESISTANCE that we don’t need to look on admiringly at the French. We British people have an excellent history of taking to the streets and making nuisances of ourselves. We have said no to fascist politicians before and will do so again; we do not stand for government silence and suppression of obvious truths. Photographers have been there to witness these moments, telling stories of heroism in ingenious compositions that project the subject’s activism to a potentially global audience. Co-curated by Steve McQueen, it’s on at Margate’s Turner Contemporary until 4 May, and is the perfect excuse to take advantage of the glorious spring weather we’re experiencing on the north Kent coast. Link in bio to my review at WritersMosaic. While you’re there, have a read of the Leigh Bowery piece for ArtReview I posted last week.
Paul Trevor, Anti-racists gather to block route of National Front demonstration, New Cross Road, London, August 1977
Tragic Magic, the 1978 debut novel by Wesley Brown, has just been republished here in the UK by Daunt Books. A jazz-soaked post-punk comic novel with some of the sharpest dialogue and most prescient critiques of masculinity I’ve read. Edited by Toni Morrison, endorsed by James Baldwin, and with a foreword by me. Out now in paperback. LiB
Today marks 100 years since the birth of James Baldwin, one of the greatest literary icons of the 20th century. His incisive critiques of America and the West, of whiteness and blackness, among the many and diverse subjects in his glare, continue to resonate long after his early passing from cancer in 1987. It has been a pleasure to return to reading him this year, and to have been involved in centenary events at Hay Festival and the Brighton Book Festival, with WritersMosaic at the British Library and Words of Colour at Southbank. Tomorrow evening (3 Aug) I’ll be hosting a series of readings from Baldwin’s essay archive at Bold Tendencies, featuring Caleb Azumah Nelson, Deborah Levy, Ekow Eshun, Nicholas Boggs, Rhea Dhillon and Liam Sangmuah, on behalf of the London Review of Books. Links in bio. Happy birthday, Jimmy!
📸 Richard Avedon
@londonreviewofbooks@boldtendencies
Every so often a novel comes along that reminds you of the role of literary fiction: to expose the unseen, re-view the seen, and hold the privileged to account. Bravo, @alanjhollinghurst 🎯
![“If Black Skin, White Masks had been placed in my hands at 15, [it] might have helped better prepare me for life encased in a black, male body”, this is Taíno Mendez, whose Mosaic Monologue in our current original series, ‘The person and the nation’ is an exploration of the cognitive dissonance Fanon understood that black people experience in pursuing assimilation that leads to loss of identity and authenticity - link in bio to listen in full #culture #globalmajority #review #writers #critic](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6758702065352549226069_0_9b332aafc08a2c12cc6e531dc89651d9.jpg?o=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&h=375afb2a447c9b68242ad2dc046588f1)
