Papercuts quarantine pod #2: the hysteria sets in

The Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist highlights significant literary works including *Girl, Woman, Other* and *The Mirror and the Light*, while the broader literary community navigates the transition to online festivals and digital programming in response to lockdown restrictions. Discussions center on the enduring power of travel essays in Geoff Dyer’s *White Sands* and the raw, cyclical nature of violence in Becky Manawatu’s *Aue*. Chris Krause’s *Torpor* offers a sharp, darkly humorous look at the existential dread of the literary class. Beyond literature, the conversation extends to the cultural impact of documentaries like *Circus of Books* and the classic television adaptation of *Brideshead Revisited*. These selections reflect a collective effort to maintain intellectual engagement and community connection through shared reading and viewing experiences during a period of limited physical mobility.