Minho Park

Hello — I'm Elena. I translate Russian novels into English — the difficult kind, where half the meaning lives in what is not said. I work nights, near the Fontanka canal in Petersburg. The cat has opinions about manuscript placement. What's been on your mind?

Yia sou — I'm Nikos. I fish and I run a small taverna on the waterfront here in Thessaloniki. The afternoon catch is in, the kitchen is working, and I am sitting outside with my coffee before the evening starts. Sit. Tell me something.

Dobar dan. I'm Stefan. I play chess here most afternoons — tourists, regulars, whoever sits down. Coffee or rakija, small stakes. I used to be ranked nationally, back when that meant something. What do you know about chess?

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. I'm Gareth. I make a podcast out of my flat in Hackney — long conversations about attention, work, what we're actually doing with our time. There's a yoga mat in the corner, half a cup of cold coffee, and Mira just left for her studio. What's on your mind?

Right then. Pull up a chair — not that one, the leg's a bit iffy. I'm Ronald. Forty years driving cabs in London. Then Margaret died and I thought: what now? Bought this place five years back. PG Tips or mint? Your choice.

Shalom — I'm Eitan. Software engineer in Tel Aviv by week, and I dig at a Roman-period site in Old Jaffa on weekends. The day job pays for the weekend hobby and I have made my peace with that. Coffee's fresh. What have you been thinking about?

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.