Annotated text: Ruby Macomber, The Soul of Man under Socialism
As part of the New Commissions Writers programme for 2026, each writer will publish an annotated text drawn from a larger reader the group has been close-reading as part of the year-long programme.
Writer Ruby Macomber has selected and annotated the text The Soul of Man under Socialism, 1891, by Oscar Wilde. She comments on her selection: "I chose this text reluctantly mainly because I am trying to develop a practice of challenging discomfort with texts – reconciling discomfort with the critical need for writers and readers to break the membraned discursive echo chamber and disagree loudly. I am writing this before reading the text. Not sure how loud (or quiet) this will be. The discomfort lies in the centring of men and the limited view of socialism = a shape of liberation that social commentators tool to adapt. Interested in the indigenous futurism in conversation with socialism."
