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The collection is about public occurrences, many of which the reader will recognise, but it is also about private happenings and quiet reflection on some sensitive matters. The employment of allusion and metaphor is noteworthy, and the enlisting of historical and religious reference (as in Fergus’ “Out of Nowhere” and Weekes’ “Good Friday”) helps to contextualise some of the themes of the collection, such as isolation and preservation; but these devices also serve as signifiers of promise/hope, weaving a contrapuntal thread that embellishes the work’s rich texture. The authors use these and many other strategies to induce us to look beyond the event horizon of social etiquette, propriety, writer’s privacy and then return to gauge our very own responses. Though the world has begun to understand that the region’s most potent voices are those of its artists, fewer people are aware that much of the region’s theorizing emanates from the creative work of its artists. So this collection is a deep-rooted intervention.