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Janet Malcolm's posthumous 'Still Pictures' reflects on memory, photography, and her journalistic legacy

publication · 2026-04-20

Granta published Janet Malcolm's posthumous work, 'Still Pictures: On photography and memory,' in 2022. This collection includes autobiographical essays inspired by photographs from both her childhood and adult life, marking a departure from her previous journalistic endeavors. Malcolm delves into themes of memory, autobiography, and the ethics of storytelling, drawing on her earlier works such as 'The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes' (1994) and 'Psychoanalysis: The impossible profession' (1981). She reflects on her experiences at The New Yorker under William Shawn and her marriage to Gardner Botsford. Having fled Prague for Manhattan in 1939, her family confronted displacement and antisemitism. Influenced by European literary traditions, she critiques memory distortion and the notion of the 'author as god' in her reviews.

Key facts

  • Janet Malcolm's 'Still Pictures: On photography and memory' was published posthumously by Granta in 2022
  • The book is a collection of autobiographical writings based on photographs from her early life and adulthood
  • Malcolm is known for works like 'The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes' (1994) and 'Psychoanalysis: The impossible profession' (1981)
  • She worked at The New Yorker under editor William Shawn and was married to Gardner Botsford, heir to the magazine's funding
  • Malcolm's family fled Prague in 1939 and immigrated to Manhattan, facing displacement and antisemitism
  • Her writing reflects European literary traditions, Czech humor similar to Kafka, and a Dadaist sensibility
  • The text critiques autobiography's pitfalls and memory's negative bias, referencing W. G. Sebald's methods
  • Reviews highlight Malcolm's challenge to the 'author as god' view in Western literature

Entities

Artists

  • Janet Malcolm
  • Sylvia Plath
  • Ted Hughes
  • W. G. Sebald
  • Gardner Botsford
  • William Shawn

Institutions

  • Granta
  • The New Yorker

Locations

  • Prague
  • Czech Republic
  • Manhattan
  • United States

Sources