I wrote about the fascinating French writer Anne Serre for The Baffler.

Some years ago, you purchased an island, where you live alone. You have a boat, but you rarely cross over to the mainland. When you do, you always feel ill at ease, wandering from place to place, sleeping in strange hotels, lurking in cafés. Compared with the busy mainland, your island—the only place you feel at home—seems insignificant, cold, dark, and even unreal. At such times, you can only lift your spirits by unfolding a map. When you see your island marked there, tiny as a pinhead but faithfully represented by the cartographer, it gives you a rush of strength. You feel reestablished, buoyant, and justified in your way of life, as if you’ve just caught sight of your name in print.

Read more here.