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… but wait, you say, what can we expect of Litro’s new blog and events section? How silly of me. Let me explain: I have no idea. Well, okay, some idea. When first meeting with Ocean Media publisher Eric Akoto to discuss the new role, he explained that Litro was looking for a sort of literary girl about town. ‘Like Holly Golightly!’ I exclaimed to a friend the next day. ‘Julie, my dear,’ she replied, ‘you do remember that Holly Golightly was an escort?’ Indeed! So let’s make that analogy a bit, erm, looser.

As literary girl about town, I’ll be popping into book launches and author readings, reviewing whatever new books I can get my hands on, and exploring art exhibits and other events that blur the lines between literature and other media. Expect brief round-ups here on the blog along with previews of artists and events that we just have to call your attention to immediately as well as pedantic asides where our inner grammar fiends are let loose and snarling (yes, yes, I am on a failing one-woman mission to eradicate the LOL). Meanwhile, the back pages of each Litro issue will likely be reserved for more in-depth reviews, features, and interviews.

Which reminds me: during those initial sessions in which your Litro staff laid out plans for the future of Litro’s event coverage (the phrase “take over the universe” may or may not have been used), our fearless publisher mentioned author interviews as an arena into which we might expand our coverage. For example, he said, Salman Rushdie has a new book out and it made the Booker longlist. So you might interview him. Right. So I would just, you know … interview … Salman … Rushdie. Would your confidence in your events editor be shaken were she to admit that the first thought that came to mind when picturing that scenario was of the cringe-inducing book launch scene in Bridget Jones’s Diary (‘Lord Archer, yours aren’t bad either.’)?

Surely Litro could do better. Salman? (Salman’s publicists?) Phone us.

Your Litro events editor is late to the virtual relaunch party. For shame. I’m here now!… having only just emerged from a dissertation-induced writing hangover. (Sorry? Oh, how very kind of you to ask! ‘”See You in the Funny Papers”: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Art Spiegelman’s Tragicomics’. Would you like to see it published as a 30-part Litro blog series? No? Oh, alright.)

A few quick introductions and we’ll get on with business. Many of you may already know Tom, whether through Penned in the Margins, London Word Festival, or as poet in residence at the Bishopsgate Institute. I first crossed paths with Tom whilst covering the brilliant Word Festival earlier this year, and so was rather excited to learn that we’d be working together on Litro.

As for me? A librarian’s daughter, my given household chore as a child was to dust the family’s many bookshelves, a task that inevitably left me bored and curled up with one of the books I was meant to be dusting. Were my parents diabolical geniuses whose goal was to pique my interest in literature or were they just pawning off a chore they didn’t like? Whatever the answer, I now have a violent aversion to dusting and am constitutionally incapable of walking out of a bookstore empty-handed. An editor, writer, and blogger, I will finagle an invite to an author event whenever I can and will snatch up reviewer copies of new books wherever I can. And, since we’re sharing, I do actually give a fuck about an Oxford comma.

Quite pleased to be here, now you know my creds, and so we’re off and blogging…

*Oh and yes, I do enjoy an allusion – be it a crap reference to Austin Powers or something a bit more erudite.

Whilst continuing to bring you the finest in short fiction, Litro will be expanding its content in the months to come. Reviewing recent book releases, interviewing authors, loitering at local lit fests, thinking outside the book and exploring the boundaries between literature and the other arts – all this and more can you expect to find on our blog and back pages. So keep an eye out and join us as we storm the London literary scene (read: gatecrash, try not to get escorted out by security).

September’s issue marks a new beginning for Litro. Poet and live literature producer Tom Chivers takes over from Mike Fell as Editor. Julie Palmer-Hoffman takes up the new position of Events Editor and will be blogging here regularly on all the exciting literary parties she gets invited to (we’re not jealous, honest). We also welcome Anastasia Sichkarenko as designer/illustrator and Jay Bernard (Budo) as Contributing Artist. As always Litro continues to be published by Ocean Media and the brilliant Eric Akoto.

So, now you’re acquainted with the team, let’s get on with showing you round the new website. Yes, we know the look hasn’t changed that much, but we hope the revamp makes it easier to get around. Our literary events guru Julie will be keeping the Blog up-to-date with news, events previews, features and interviews with writers… so keep your eye on that. We’re also planning to have as many past issues of Litro available as PDF downloads in our Archive section; bear with us. If you’re not already signed up, pop your email into the box at the bottom of this page to receive regular updates and exclusive content.

Finally, Litro has braved the world of social networking and can be found on Facebook. Our existing MySpace page is still there too: rocking the old school.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to pick up your free copy of Litro.