The volume brings together thirty-five leading essayists, scholars and instructors of the essay from around the world, and it features prominent writers like Rebecca Solnit, Claudia Rankine, Brian Dillon, David Shields and Jamaica Kincaid. It provides a comprehensive overview of the essay, with a focus on current debates about the form.
The companion distinguishes itself by the wide range and scope of its themes, voices and approaches discussing the essay from multiple perspectives, including its theories, forms and histories as well as its cultural, political and pedagogical contexts.
In particular, the volume extends the theory of the essay by addressing topics such as the construction of an essayistic self and the political dimensions of essaying. It further explores the relationship between the essay and other forms, such as philosophical writing, the column, science writing, the novel, the lyric and the advert as well as the essay in digital spaces.
Prof. Ivan Callus and Dr. Kurt Borg, who are based at the University of Malta, have also contributed chapters to this companion.
