Bringing together the winning and shortlisted essays from the 2020 Hubert Butler Essay Prize, Self and Society gives five fresh perspectives on the tension between individual freedom and communal solidarity, asking what we owe our communities and why it matters.
The arrival of a new boy, Philip, who effortlessly befriends Danny, offers hope for a brighter future as they work with an inspiring teacher, Mr. Miller. However, Danny's life takes a drastic turn when his father loses his job and they face the threat of losing their home. This story explores themes of friendship, resilience, and the impact of economic hardship on family dynamics, as Danny navigates his changing world while trying to find his place and identity amidst adversity.
Winner of the 2019 Stonewall Book Award—Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Book Award Using bisexuality as a frame, Go the Way Your Blood Beats questions the division of sexuality into straight and gay, in a timely exploration of the complex histories and psychologies of human desire. A challenge to the idea that sexuality can either ever be fully known or neatly categorised, it is a meditation on desire’s unknowability. Interwoven with anonymous addresses to past loves - the sex of whom remain obscure - the book demonstrates the universalism of desire, while at the same time the particularity of each individual act of desiring. Part essay, part memoir, part love letter, Go the Way Your Blood Beats asks us to see desire and sexuality as analogous with art - a mysterious, creative force, and one that remakes us in the act itself.