In Granta 168: Significant Other we consider the people who shape our sense of ourselves and reflect on the connections and encounters that inform a life.

Featuring essays and memoir by Mary Gaitskill, Susan Pedersen, James Pogue and Snigdha Poonam, as well as criticism from Christian Lorentzen.

Fiction by Kevin Brazil, J.M. Coetzee, Sophie Collins, Victor Heringer (translated by James Young), Fleur Jaeggy (translated by Gini Alhadeff) and Alexandra Tanner.

Poetry by Najwan Darwish (translated by Kareem James Abu-Zeid), Zoë Hitzig, Tamara Nassar and Bernadette Van-Huy.

And photography by Rosalind Fox Solomon (introduced by Lynne Tillman), Jesse Glazzard (introduced by Anthony Vahni Capildeo) and Debmalya Ray Choudhuri (introduced by John-Baptiste Oduor.