Writing in the Margins, Part 5: Photo Gallery
The extraordinary and inventive Mandombe script from the Congo. Photo and carving by the author.

Writing in the Margins, Part 5: Photo Gallery

The fifth installment in my weeklong series on Writing Beyond Writing is the easiest to introduce. I give you a gallery of some of the photos and images from the book, which in turn represent just a small portion of the astonishing and beautiful range of forms of writing used in the world—so much so that they challenge us to rethink and redefine what we mean by writing itself.

The Manchu script, once the official writing system of the Chinese empire, now the province of a handful of scholars and historians. Carving and photo by the author.


The Ditema tsa Dinoko syllabary, created for the Bantu languages of southern Africa. Image from LearnDitema on Instagram.


Ersu Shaba, one of many scripts used solely by shamans or ritual specialists.


An obelisk in Mali displaying Bozo and Dogon ideograms, about which I know retty much nothing. If you can help out, get in touch!


Writing Beyond Writing is for sale on Amazon, and also at https://www.endangeredalphabets.com/writing-beyond-writing/, where in addition to the hardback and paperback editions you can also buy the digital edition, a popular option for those living outside the U.S.

Tim Brookes is the author of 20 books, all of them alas in the English language and the Latin alphabet, and the founder of the Endangered Alphabets Project.


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