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24 (+1) Japanese authors to read
Japan is one of my favourite countries in the world—perhaps even my favourite. Long before I first visited Japan last year, I had been immersed in Japanese literature, reading novels by Japanese authors in translation, whether in English, Greek, or French. I even attempted a few in Italian, though I quickly discovered that my Italian is not quite up to the task—still, it is certainly better than my Japanese! I recently logged all the books I currently own on Goodreads, along with many others I’ve read over the years. To my surprise, books by Japanese authors far outnumber those from any other country. Well, that’s not entirely true. If I include…
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9 films about mental illness
The 10th of October is World Mental Health Day. This year’s official theme is “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change,” a theme that places lived experience at the heart of the conversation about mental health. At the same time, the BFI London Film Festival is taking place in venues across the capital, from 7 to 18 October. As a psychiatrist and a cinephile, I thought this was a good opportunity to bring the two together and look at seven films that explore mental health in very different ways, and discuss 9 films about mental illness. Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are countless films…