The French illustrator Iris de Moüy has a knack for finding the essence of things. Her lines, minimal and bold, often achieve what whole paragraphs of description cannot. “I’m inspired by simple forms, from the cave paintings of Lascaux to Henri Matisse drawings,” she says. “Simplicity is a complex thing to master. I try to […]

9/18/96 I spoke to Madonna yesterday. She said not to give people any details about our deal. She said, “When you were writing your book, how would you have liked it if you had to read about how bad it was going to be all the time? Trust me, I’ve been doing this for fifteen […]

The drag scene in Tbilisi exists in defiance. In a country where queer expression can invite violence or arrest, to perform in drag is to take a calculated risk. The shows unfold in basements and backrooms, improvised spaces of safety and solidarity in a culture that grants little of either. Jonathan Moore, a London-based photographer […]

When Laurie Gwen Shapiro talks about Harriet the Spy, it isn’t casual. Harriet is her ur-text, her compass. She discovered Louise Fitzhugh’s book as a Manhattan schoolgirl and never really put it down again, at least not in the ways that matter. Harriet, notebook in hand, slinking through the streets of Manhattan in search of […]

Few writers have shaped our cultural imagination quite like Christopher Isherwood. His Berlin stories gave us Sally Bowles and ultimately Cabaret, but his influence extends far beyond Weimar. Across novels, memoirs, and diaries, he chronicled the anxieties of modern life, the search for spiritual meaning, and the long, difficult journey toward queer liberation. Katherine Bucknell […]