When the celebrated Swedish writer and artist Johanna Ekström found out that she was dying, she asked her closest friend, Granta publisher and philanthropist Sigrid Rausing, to finish her last book. The author of Everything is Wonderful and Mayhem joins us to discuss transcribing, translating and editing the 13 handwritten notebooks left by Ekström, resulting in an acclaimed memoir of exceptional depth and intensity. Interwoven with Rausing’s spare and sober reflections, And the Walls Became the World All Around is a literary experiment, a testament to friendship, and a deep meditation on grief.
An event from Jewish Book Week 2025
