“Once upon a time, the marabouts of Chinguetti began to collect books,” we are told in the opening essay of Anna Badkhen’s most recent collection, Bright Unbearable Reality. Marabouts are Muslim holy men, and Chinguetti is a city in Saharan Mauritania that is home to some of the world’s oldest libraries. Scholar-wanderers traveled abroad and … Continue reading on Bright Unbearable Reality, essays by Anna Badkhen