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Author: Alison Sampson

  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Ghosts of children passed

    • Alison Sampson
    • 02 November 2011
    22 Comments

    'Did I have a brother once?' asks a little boy, no longer sure. His mother's eyes fill with tears. 'Yes, darling. A long time ago, you had a baby brother of your own.' He shouts triumphantly, 'I did have a brother!' and runs off. We mothers glance at each other, then look away. There are no words.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The inevitability of tears

    • Alison Sampson
    • 02 November 2010
    10 Comments

    When my grandparents died earlier this year, I barely cried at their funerals. While reading aloud at my grandmother's, I glanced out at the congregation and saw my grandfather's face shiny with tears, looking up at me ... My voice cracked, but I'm a good girl so I held it together.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    What liberated women wear

    • Alison Sampson
    • 16 September 2010
    25 Comments

    One day when I was out shopping for underwear five women in burqas came into the store. Chatting and laughing, they headed straight to a selection of lacy g-strings, holding up the garments for all to see as they checked sizes and made loud comments about each pair of panties.

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    Organic carrots and grocery store ethics

    • Alison Sampson
    • 09 June 2010
    11 Comments

    People in my own city are hungry, people across the world are starving, yet here I am buying local organic olive oil, ten times the price of a good oil from Crete. The first time I tasted an organic carrot, I realised that every other carrot I had ever eaten was a mere shadow. 

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