First Things

In First Things, Harry Ricketts chronicles his early life through the lens of firsts: those moments that can hold their detail and potency across a lifetime. Set mostly in Hong Kong and Oxford, these bright fragments include the places, people, writers, encounters and obsessions that have shaped Ricketts world, from his first friends and rivals to his first time being caned by a teacher and his first time dropping acid. There are other, more enigmatic firsts here too, like the first time he realised what really mattered, and the first time he began doubting God. I wanted to believe in God and, even more, wanted God to believe in me.

Harry Ricketts is a literary scholar, biographer, essayist, reviewer, editor, poet, and teacher of creative writing,