‘Responsible but not beholden; substantial as well as symbolic; sympathetic but not pandering; political but not proscriptive: there’s not an awful lot of wiggle room there, but it’s the space in which I feel I need to both operate and expand.’

In this incisive, moving and personal essay, one of the nation’s leading political voices, explores the ‘burden of representation’.

Gary Younge analyses the pressures exerted upon the relatively small group of people from underrepresented communities, who break through into elite spaces and the expectations that may come from above, below, within and outwith, from those with power and those without. These are issues that have framed, frustrated, inspired, and inflected his entire working life as a writer.

Younge offers reflections on how to navigate representation, power and responsibility while keeping your job, your sanity and your freedom both as a human being and as a writer.