From the Editors…

Everyone has designs: house plans, dress patterns, architectural models, future-proof technology, good old OS maps, intentions good, bad and preposterous… now Litro has designs on you. Can we tempt you to dip into some elegant short fiction?

This issue of Litro offers visual as well as literary riches. Andrzej Bursa is a new discovery for Litro: a Polish, literary James Dean whose dark, irreverent tale ‘Killing Auntie’ makes short work of the religious establishment. Gerard McCaul’s ‘Symmetry’ asks some sharp questions about science and the genesis of genius, while in his ‘A Dictionary Story’, Sam Winston writes from the point of view of that well-used but under-appreciated standby, your trusty dictionary. His piece has more than the ordinary twist in its tail, as you will see.

We are not short of poetry either. David Hermann opens the issue with a couple of throwaway lyrics astutely pinpointing aspects of London. Sophie Mayer’s poem ‘London Fashion Week / Pelvis’ should leaven the unrelenting glitz of LFW before we expire from an overdose. And we close with an extract from a writer who knew all about fashion: Marcel Proust. Why go to the theatre when you can plan it all out in your head, right down to the ladies’ jewellery? He might have a point.

Sophie Lewis &
Dena Ziari