Vol. 26 · No. 8 London Free to read
The Amara Osei
Sunday 11 October 2026 Writer & Editor Contact ▸
Profile
Essays about work, cities and the people who keep them running. By Amara Osei, London
I write long-form essays and reported features, mostly about labour, migration and the hidden infrastructure of cities. My first book, The Salt Years, came out with Granta in 2024.
I also edit The Harbour Quarterly, a small magazine of new writing from port cities.
The Guardian Long Read
2024 · example.com
Read the full piece → The New Yorker
2023
Granta 162
Notes from a Corner Shop 2023
London Review of Books
On Overtime 2022
▪ Orwell Prize for Political Writing, shortlist — The Salt Years Book · 2024
The Salt Years Essays on the docks, night buses and corner shops that keep a city alive. Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize.
Novel · 2026
Night Shift A novel about a hospital porter, a Sunday, and everything that can happen in one shift.
Magazine · 2021–
The Harbour Quarterly Fourteen issues of fiction and essays from port cities, from Lagos to Liverpool.
In this edition Profile A1 Selected writing A2 Books A3 Appointments A4 Letters A5 Classifieds A6 Appointments Founding Editor , The Harbour Quarterly. 2021–Present. Commission, edit and publish four issues a year.Features Writer , The Guardian. 2016–2021. Long reads on work, housing and transport.Letters “Osei writes about ordinary work with the attention most people save for art.” — The Observer, Review of The Salt Years