This issue of Litro is about Brazil. Why? Because its literature is obscure here, even to those who know their Latin Americans. So, we’re delighted to share the strange, distinctive fruits of our Brazilian tour – and to thank our two modest guides, Christina Baum of FLIP festival, and Stefan Tobler, translator and entrepreneur.

The issue is, particularly, an homage to Clarice Lispector, often called the greatest modern Brazilian writer but still essentially an enigma in Britain. Benjamin Moser writes here on one of Lispector’s best novels, while José Eduardo Agualusa’s story pays a generation’s dues to the ‘Brazilian sphinx’. Her name echoes through Flávio Carneiro’s ‘The Pageant’ and in the tone of Raduan Nassar’s and Claudia Laje’s salutary fantasies.

We also bring you a poetry sequence by Andra Simons, a poem by Rilke and a story by Gabriel Josipovici, each of which looks forward to our February issue – which will now be the first of 2010 – themed in celebration of the Joy of Crime. (If you have already submitted for this theme, we assure you your stories are safe and will be considered for the next issue.)

Let us know if you like what you’re reading!

Sophie Lewis
& Dena Ziari

What do you think of when I bring up the subject of a city’s ‘wild life’? Flocks of starlings, perhaps, or pigeons; or the zoo; squirrels, or domestics turned stray; perhaps with a little imagination you think of your own semi-civilised antics on the weekend or in your secret other lives. Well it seems that the writers around you have only one thing on their minds: vermin. Richard Lemmer brings us a rather plausible future scenario, in which urban golf seems to have merged with more dangerous sports, while Thomas Mogford reveals the sympathetic side of Rentokil’s descendents. To round off our flea-ridden collection, we have a creepy tale by Vanessa Woolf, set in an earlier incarnation of our verminous city.

But there is more to life than living in sewers. Chris Smith’s brilliant story ‘Since Charlie Hadn’t Come’ is a disturbing tale of bucolic extra-urban wildness sliding into unexpected degrees of horror. Along with this story, we are lucky also to be able to present the superb line-drawings of illustrator Jess Watson.

This month, too, we underline our commitment to bringing a little art to your journeys around and beyond the city with a few highlights from the celebrated Poems on the Underground series. We couldn’t resist a little punning with the inclusion of a gem by one of our favourite decadent poets… We hope you enjoy the issue.

Sophie Lewis
& Dena Ziari

This summer, Litro magazine teamed up with Stanfords, the travel and map shop, asking for your wildest and strangest holiday, adventure or travel experience in less than 201 words. Ie, we asked you for your story on a postcard.

Now Summer’s over, we’ve sifted through the drifts of electronic ‘postcards’ you sent in and these lucky writers came out on top:

• David Midgley with ‘Tobago Adventure’ [which you can now read below]

• Vanessa Woolf with ‘The Heights of Abraham’

• Graham Buchan with ‘The Fjord Question’

Each of these will receive a copy of Martin Parr’s fabulous photographic book Martin Parr Postcards. In addition, the top winning story is to be published on both Litro and Stanfords websites, so well done Mr Midgley. ‘Tobago Adventure’ is HERE. To read many more stories like and unlike these, explore www.litro.co.uk, where you can also find information on the nearest place to pick up a copy of Litro magazine. Or of course you can Subscribe! to the magazine on our Subscriptions page.

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