Journal
Written from the houses, not from the centre.
The Journal has appeared twice yearly since 1976, with one interruption. Stewards, members, and occasional critics write in their own voices; the stewardship does not edit for agreement.
Essays
17 items
Spring 2026
A Circle Is Not an Audience
Rosalind Achebe · Member, Fell House · formerly convener, Carlisle Circle
The difference between a gathering and a performance is not atmosphere. It is who does the work, and whether the evening could happen if they were ill.
Spring 2026
What an Archive Owes the Person It Describes
Naomi Whitlock · Steward of Orchard House
We ask people to trust us with parts of their lives. Nobody ever tells them how long the holding will last.
Spring 2026
Against the Clean Record
Gunnar Sørhaug · Archivist
An institution becomes less accountable, not more careful, when the uncomfortable earlier version stops existing.
Autumn 2025
On Finding Precedent Where There May Only Be Resemblance
Gunnar Sørhaug · Archivist
A practice does not become older because we would prefer it to be. The temptation to give ourselves ancestors is strongest in the years when we are doing least.
January 2025
The Ethical Use of Attention
Rie Katsuragawa · Steward of Cedar House
If attention is the scarcest thing a person has, then asking for it is a moral act and should be justified.
January 2025
The Last Quarter
Rhoda Aberdare · Steward of the Shore House
Beginning is a mood. Finishing is a relationship with a version of yourself you have not met yet.
February 2025
Unwitnessed Decisions: A Note from the Archive
Gunnar Sørhaug · Archivist
Most of what a person is, is settled in rooms with no other person in them.
March 2024
Against Permanent Availability
Mara Evensen · Steward of the North House
A person who can always be reached is a person who has stopped deciding when they are present.
February 2023
A House Is Not a Community
Iona Reid · Steward of Fell House
Buildings are easier to obtain than agreements, which is why organizations keep buying buildings.
August 2023
What Is Preserved When a Practice Survives?
Tomaž Vrhovec · Steward of Karst House
Institutions preserve procedures with great fidelity and reasons with almost none.
June 2022
Why We Eat Together
Naomi Whitlock · Steward of Orchard House
The table does something that discussion cannot, and it does it to people who did not agree to be changed.
November 2021
The Discipline of Finishing
Peter Amiot · Steward of Shore House
Beginning is a feeling. Finishing is a character trait, and it can be built in a workshop.
September 2020
Notes on Voluntary Silence
Abdirahman Yusuf · Steward of River House
Silence is not the absence of speech. It is a decision that speech has been postponed.
May 2019
The Problem of Unwitnessed Decisions
Mara Evensen · Steward of the North House
Most of a life is decided in rooms with one person in them. This is where our practice is weakest.
December 2018
The First Winter
Anonymous member, Lantern House · Member essay
I came because a friend I trusted asked me to, which I am told is how most people come.
Autumn 1988
On the Difference Between Privacy and Secrecy
Thomas Orrell · Steward, 1976–1991
Privacy is the right to an interior. Secrecy is the intention that another person hold a false picture.
Letter, 1981 — reprinted 2016
On Institutions as Necessary Dangers
Eleanor Vale · Founder
A structure capable of preserving a practice is equally capable of replacing it.
Member essays
3 items
November 2026
On What We Are For
Unattributed · Submitted through Karst House
Written after the winter reconciliation, and circulated to the houses in the ordinary way.
March 2025
I Left for Two Years
Adaeze Okpara-Lindqvist · Returning member, Lantern House
A period of separation is described in our documents as a neutral event. It was not neutral, and I would like to say what it was actually like.
October 2024
Four Years of Thursdays
Halvard Munn · Member, Briar House · fourth year
I was told the practice would not change my life. This turned out to be untrue in a way nobody had misled me about.
Steward notices
3 items
Posted in the passage, 29 January
Notice: kitchen rota, February
Mara Evensen · Steward of the North House
Two changes to the rota, and a reminder concerning the Thursday table.
Posted in the passage. Not removed until superseded.
Posted 6 March
Notice: closed observance, 14th
Peter Amiot · Steward of Shore House
The house is closed to visitors and to unaffiliated members on the evening of the 14th.
Posted at the shop door and in the winter kitchen.
Posted 2 September
Notice: continuity review of this circle
Abdirahman Yusuf · Steward of River House
The circle is under review. Members are entitled to know what that means and are frequently not told.
Posted, then reposted 9 September with paragraph four added.
Index of hands
- Mara EvensenSteward of the North House. Fellow, 1998—.
- Peter AmiotSteward of Shore House. Fellow, 1989—.
- Abdirahman YusufSteward of River House. Fellow, 1981—.
- Naomi WhitlockSteward of Orchard House. Fellow, 1994—.
- Tomaž VrhovecSteward of Karst House. Fellow, 2001—.
- Rie KatsuragawaSteward of Cedar House. Fellow, 2004—.
- Iona ReidSteward of Fell House. Fellow, 1996—.
- Halvard MunnMember, Briar House.
- Adaeze Okpara-LindqvistReturning member, Lantern House.
- M. SandovalNo longer continuous. Fellow.
Issues before 1996 are held in the archive. Nos. 14–21 (1982–1986) were not published. Each piece carries its own citation and may be taken away as a PDF.