Ali Shaw explores the sleepy hollow ways and tiptoe paths of the countryside as they wend their way through literature, from The Wind in the Willows to Tolkein’s Shire.
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Ali Shaw gets lost in Poland’s Puszcza Białowieska, the largest surviving remnant of the primeval forest. What is it about stories of the deep woods that fascinates, scares and changes ...
In the third instalment of his column, The Written World, author Ali Shaw explores the desert as the cradle of literature, religions and wars, and also as a mirror held ...
“To come here you must risk not only the bear’s meathook claws but the jaws of the orca, the nose of the wolf, perhaps even the magic of some stranger ...
We are very excited to announce the beginning of a new monthly column by novelist Ali Shaw exploring landscapes — as they are, and as we perceive them. His first piece ...
I guess the thing that appeals to me most in fiction is an emphasis on expressionism: the literary equivalent of (bear with me) the German Expressionist painters from the start ...
Litro steps into the billiard room and brandishes the lead piping for its crime special this month, and it’s appropriate because in the last couple of weeks there have been ...
For the last two years, the Lazy Gramophone collective have been collaborating on this combination of writing and artwork that shares Litro’s ethos: the championing of short fiction, poetry, and ...
A break today from the Brazilian stuff to mention an event I went to this week at the South Bank Centre. It was an evening of readings and discussion to ...
This special feature arrives indebted to writer and Litro contributor Laura Nelson (check out her Litro-published short stories here and here). Laura responded to the shout-out for Brazilian folk ...
As I confessed last week, I know very little about Brazilian literature and intend to use Litro’s Brazilian-themed issue to rectify this. Like I say, I’m no expert (I am ...
Just a quick heads up this week towards something that’s worth picking up a copy of: the Radio Times. Yes, the Radio Times, because its Christmas Bumper edition contains a ...
This week the BBC announced the shortlist for its annual National Short Story Award, and tonight the fifth and final entry on the list was read out on Radio 4. ...
Today we heard the bad news that Borders has gone into administration in the UK. I know gigantic bookshops aren’t to everybody’s taste and that’s fair enough, but given ...
In case you missed it, here’s a brilliant thing: the Cape/Observer graphic short story prize 2009. You can probably guess what the award is for, but do check out ...
Since Litro is focussed this month on wildlife, and since it includes two fine pieces about foxes, I thought it would be fun to look at the peculiar and ...
I was going to write today about Litro‘s theme of the month: wildlife. Then last night I read something that reminded me of another item from the current issue, so ...
I don’t normally find myself lost in Hyde Park in the dark, but currently I seem to get lost prior to every literary event I attend. It’s a kind ...
All this week, the Guardian’s been giving away little booklets of fairy tales, which makes, in my view, for a brilliant reason to pick up a paper every day. ...
I promised in a blog last week to write about Mick Jackson’s collection Bears of England (from which he read at the Small Wonder short story festival) and ...
