Norma Wong’s When No Thing Works (2024) is a piece of writing which I find myself returning to over and over again. The text simply, directly, and lyrically addresses the fact that systems collapse and new things emerge out of what has fallen apart. It is a book that identifies change as a process which teaches us about the nature of resilience, survival, and creativity. At its core, it is also a text which addresses the necessity of facing “difficult things” directly.
There are a couple of pages of Wong’s When No Thing Works which I bookmarked some time ago. These pages describe desired futures as horizons towards which we might navigate by using deliberate strategies. There’s a lot to chew on. Wong discusses, for instance, the necessity of interrelation (“We need people”), timing (“Sometimes we need high tide to float our boat. Sometimes we need low tide to scrape barnacles off the hull.”), and stumbling blocks (“There will be obstacles.”).1 One of the strategies also describes capacity:2
“Strategies need to take into account the limited, gasping capacity felt by most people and institutions. There is no leap to be made when burdened. We cannot become if overcome. The magic of capacity is that when we choose-to-do-a-few rather than choose-to-do-more, our capacity increases and has air to breathe.“
Many people will find resonance in this strategy. Ultimately, if we wish our efforts to be effective, they ought to be sustainable.
Over the last seven years, it has been my sincere pleasure to convene the Res Difficiles conference series together with collaborators. This annual conference has been a gathering point for researchers, teachers, and students to discuss difficult aspects of antiquity itself, as well as the processes of marginalization which occur within our scholarly societies. While the need to have these discussions has certainly not dissipated, we have decided to shift our strategy by winding down the conference in order to give sustainable energy to Res Difficiles, The Journal. Although we will no longer be holding the annual conference, we do imagine—and invite—the future possibility of collaborative special events. In the meantime, we sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to and participated in the conference series over the years.
Hannah Čulík-Baird
Editor
24 September 2026
1: Wong (2024), 69, 71, 70.
2: Wong (2024), 69-70.