S5E2 The Art of Paying Attention

Featured image credit: Julian Lucas by Christopher Alessandrini

Wamuwi Mbao asks Julian Lucas about the role of the critic, the value of criticism, working outside the academy, his writing process and what he’s reading next. 

Wamuwi Mbao is a literary critic with the Johannesburg Review of Books. He is editor of the collection Years of Fire and Ash: Poetry of Decolonization (Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2021) and lectures in English literary studies at Stellenbosch University.

Julian Lucas is a staff writer at The New Yorker. His essays and criticism focus on the representation of history in art, literature, games, and music. His writing on contemporary culture has included profiles of artists and writers such as El Anatsui and Ishmael Reed as well as features on historical re-enactment. He was a finalist for the 2020–2021 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing.

In this episode we stand in solidarity with Aliaksandr Fiaduta, a writer, editor, journalist, political analyst, and literary critic from Belarus. You can read more about his case here: https://pen-international.org/news/belarus-concerns-detention-aliaksandr-fiadut

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