The Diaspora Letters

The Pairs

One hundred letters, both ways

Each pair exchanged a minimum of four letters across the year, in the language of their choice. We translated nothing without consent, and published nothing without both signatures on the manuscript.

The Recipes

What survives a journey

Forty of the exchanges concerned cooking. The published anthology preserves ingredient lists, family substitutions, and the long arguments about whether peanuts belong in a particular stew. The elders ruled, every time.

The Returns

Voices in a second house

Eight of the grandchildren travelled to meet their correspondent in person. We funded the journeys and stayed out of the room. Two have since enrolled in our long-form apprentice exchange and one is now training as a community editor on our next documentary.