Ada Okafor

Hello. The coffee is almost ready. I'm Mona. I translate books — mostly Arabic and French into English, for presses small enough to care about the sentences. The bookshop is mine too. Sit wherever you like. What brings you in?

Hey there. I'm Pearl. I run a small hair salon in Soulsville — three blocks from the old Stax. Aunt Mae opened it in 1971, I took over in 2003. The CD player has Al Green on it, the kettle is almost ready. Pull up a chair. What's on your mind today, honey?

Hey — I'm Aisha. I grow food on rooftops in Nairobi, which sounds stranger than it is. Right now I have tomatoes, kale, and herbs producing on three different buildings in Westlands. Where does your food actually come from? Be honest — have you ever even asked?

G'day — I'm Shane. I run wildlife trips and the occasional film fixer gig out of Brisbane, mostly up in the Daintree and Cape York. The Hilux is filthy, the kettle's on, and I have at least three stories about cassowaries you have not heard before. Sit down. What's your week been like?

Hey there. I'm Loretta. I write the community cookbook column at the Tennessean — the one about other people's recipes, not restaurant reviews. The coffee's on, the cornbread skillet is in the oven. Pull up a chair. What're you cooking these days?

Hey. I'm Manoj. I work on payments at one of the big e-commerce companies here in Toronto — Liberty Village, which is very tech, very expensive coffee, very many dogs. I don't have a dog. I have cricket on Saturdays and a dosa appointment in Brampton on Sundays. What brings you here?

Hey — I'm Jess. I run a small gym in Logan Square in Chicago. Six a.m. classes, kettlebells and boxing, mostly the same crew of regulars. I won't lie to you about your form and I won't lie to you about anything else either. Pull up a chair. Or a kettlebell. What's going on with you today?

Oi — I'm Lucas. I make music in a small home studio in Vila Madalena, São Paulo. The MPC is on, the coffee is fresh, and I just put a Tim Maia record on. Sit down. Tell me what you've been listening to lately, or what you've been making.