Welcome to fragments, a new platform centred on losing a sibling (biological or chosen) and all the unique reactions that manifest from it. We are june bellebono and Suyin Haynes, two writers interested in identity and grief. We were inspired to start this project in Spring 2024 by our siblings, James Bellebono and Jonathan Haynes. 

James and Jonny were both talented artists. As bereaved siblings, we have each looked to James’ and Jonny’s artwork to tell us more about their lives and the ways they visualised the world, while maintaining a relationship with them through the fragments of what they have left behind. 

It’s from weaving together these parts of our loved ones that fragments was born. Here, we hope to create a space to document, remember and explore sibling grief in all its forms. We define sibling as both biological and chosen; acknowledging the richness of relationships that transcend familial ties. 

Our approach to grief is one that blends the personal with the political; we believe that nothing exists in a vacuum from the world that we live in, and even our experiences of loss are shaped by our surroundings. Both us and our siblings occupied particular identities and lived through particular historical times; we aim to honour these particularities and they will undoubtedly infer our writing.

fragments in newsletter form will be sent monthly, with posts written by us both individually and together, as well as guest contributors in the future. We will also be sharing more regular updates via Instagram here. 

We are so excited to be collaborating on a project so meaningful to us both, and to be launching fragments at this stage in our lives, which you can read more about in our first post here. 

Please support our work by subscribing here, and following us on Instagram. Thank you so much for reading x