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Façades of Lebanon

Winner of the 2021 Calibre Essay Prize
The ABR Podcast 07 July 2021

Façades of Lebanon

Winner of the 2021 Calibre Essay Prize
The ABR Podcast 07 July 2021

Theodore Ell was living in Beirut, Lebanon, on 4 August 2020 when an explosion devastated the city and shook a nation already teetering on the brink of economic collapse. Ell and his wife, a diplomat, were badly affected, but survived. Ell’s essay, ‘Façades of Lebanon’, intertwines the author’s outsider observation of the nation with a harrowing personal experience of the blast. It represents reportage at its best, and is a fitting winner of the 2021 Calibre Prize.

In today’s episode, listen to Theodore Ell read ‘Façades of Lebanon’ in full.


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