Stories From Litopia
Dozens Of Storytellers.
Only One Aim: To Entertain You.
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Livers, and Maybe Gizzards Too
American street food keeps getting re-invented: oysters, tripe soup, and chicken gizzards get replaced by hot dogs and...
If Genres Were Dating
Sci-fi's office, its walls lined with the concept art of unbuilt cities. The Director watches Sci-fi brandish spreadsheets....
November – Brussels Sprouts
For a long time, I thought Lancaster County didn’t have a rush hour. It turns out that before...
The Stillness of a Spellbound Audience
I like collecting. Mostly things like pens, books, spices and tropical fevers, but lately also “lean-in” moments. These...
Under the Influence of Irving – A Review of Queen Esther
Queen Esther, John Irving, Simon & Schuster, 2025, pp. 432 I’ve just finished reading the new John Irving novel,...
The Terrifying Tarap
Tropical fruits are a diverse bunch. On the one hand, we've got pineapples and passionfruit, mangos and mangosteen,...
Then Someone Said
. I thought I’d play the rapping game: words in rhythm (no chance of gain). . Shyness prevailed,...
The Language Of Place
Pimp, dick, bumfit admittedly sounds well dodgy. Or at least it does if you don’t live in these...
If the Protagonist Had Slept in
The PROTAGONIST’S room. Chapter One’s bloodstained clothes still cover the floor. The DIRECTOR stands in the doorway, exasperated....
A Fresh Start
There comes a point in life* when you must admit that you were wrong. A story is trundling...
The Book They Actually Wanted
Writers need feedback, and I have found the perfect focus group*. It offers raw, physical reactions, delivered with...
People Like Those: Aigneis
Aigneis is a diminutive lady in her 80s, still sharp of mind, though frail of limb. She moved...
Where it all started
When Alphonse de Lamartine said “music is the literature of the heart,” I’m pretty sure he wasn’t envisaging...
If Genre Were A Custody Battle
A conference room. Two GENRES sit fuming on opposite sides of a table. The DIRECTOR sits at the...
A few of my favourite things
I like skidding along a slippery floor in just my socks. And sending my shopping cart spinning on...
Don’t Just Take My Word For It
‘The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself’ - William Faulkner I...
Second-Hand Love Letters – Part Three
Knowing my fondness for such things, one of my dealers (vinyl not drug) found this for me inside...
Theme
A theme in literature is the central idea or underlying message that a story communicates. While the plot...
