Broadside

‘“There is no ‘end’ or ‘goal’ for this project,” [Beau Beausoleil] says. Recalling a preinterview with the BBC in London a few years ago, he says, “They really wanted a goal.” He laughs. “I want the project to stay like a constant irritant.” There is no turning the page; there can be no moving away from the suffering that Al-Mutanabbi Street endured. “That’s why I like broadsides,” he says. “There’s no page to turn.”’

from “Resurrecting the Book Market of Baghdad” for Narratively, by Sriram Aditi