• The Beauty of Tenacity

    The Beauty of Tenacity

    Writing is a tough profession. Sometimes writers have to deal with rejection. There is also a hidden bureaucracy associated with the publication world. Nevertheless, one of the saddest facts of life is that people could write, but they do not try at all. That is the main reason why, in terms of the act of…

  • The Purpose of Art, in Response to Oscar Wilde

    The Purpose of Art, in Response to Oscar Wilde

    ,

    Fay’s Christmas Painting, 1958John Altoon (American, 1925-1969) In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde famously ends his preface with the line, “All art is quite useless.” At first glance, this may suggest that art has no place in practical life. After all, it’s food and water we survive on. But art is not about…

  • Philosophical Political Climate in America

    Philosophical Political Climate in America

    ,

    Painting by Duygu Yalman, 2009 – 70 x 60 cm Ever since its founding, America has been idealized as the “land of the free”, a notion which also resulted in the beautifully elusive “American Dream”. One of liberty, opportunity, freedom, is the dream that has been passed down through generations. Yet today, many Americans find…

  • Telling the Bees – Bees Symbolism and Folklore

    Telling the Bees – Bees Symbolism and Folklore

    ,

    Bees are intelligent little insects, crucial for the environment and present in mythology, folklore, customs, and literature. Here we propose a recount of some interesting stories, traditions, and symbolism surrounding these little yellow and black insects. Telling the bees Among the many traditions of the world, one of the most interesting involves keeping the bees…

  • Gwendolyn MacEwen, Canada’s Cursed Poetess

    Gwendolyn MacEwen, Canada’s Cursed Poetess

    There is something down there and you want it told.  – Gwendolyn MacEwen Born in Toronto, Canada, on September 1st 1941, Gwendolyn MacEwen grew up in a dysfunctional family. From a young age, she cultivated a passion for writing that soon established her as one of the country’s best writing talents.  However, MacEwen also witnessed…

  • When Alice Found Me | A Chronicle of Literary Awakening

    When Alice Found Me | A Chronicle of Literary Awakening

    An illustration by John Tenniel from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandPhoto: Courtesy of Retroimages/Getty Images Growing up in the early 1990s, I wasn’t the kind of kid who read Machado de Assis or memorized Shakespeare’s sonnets. I attended a public school in a city far from the capital, where education was precarious and basic. Until…

  • Did We Really Hide Treasures in Caves? | Treasures and literature of caves

    Did We Really Hide Treasures in Caves? | Treasures and literature of caves

    ,

    Hubert Robert, The Mouth of a Cave (1784)The Metropolitan Museum of Art Through darkness, humidity, legend and uneasiness, caves have become a column of humanity’s history and literature. But did they ever really hide treasures, as folklore suggests? Caves: Myth and Shelter In popular folklore, caves were often considered gateways to other worlds: those who…

  • A Talk with Blue Walls: The Poet Behind Quartet Collection “Pomegranate”

    A Talk with Blue Walls: The Poet Behind Quartet Collection “Pomegranate”

    Blue Walls is a 19-year-old Lebanese writer and artist currently based in France for his studies. His work bridges poetry, philosophy, and visual storytelling, weaving raw emotion with a meticulous artistic vision. Deeply influenced by identity, mental health, and the fluid nature of human experience, his poetry crafts immersive worlds where language serves as both…

  • The Different Types of Unreliable Narrators

    The Different Types of Unreliable Narrators

    ,

    Truth is slippery. One thing we can be sure of is that when someone tells us a story, we are not dealing with reality itself. It doesn’t mean we are dealing with a lie. It just means that, at that moment, we are being given access to their version of reality, which is a completely…

  • Interviewing Alex, Author of ‘Self Portrait’ for the 2024 Winter Issue

    Interviewing Alex, Author of ‘Self Portrait’ for the 2024 Winter Issue

    “Trans people are important and trans stories and lives matter.” Alex Noah is a queer trans writer. He spends way too much time sitting with his cats and partner watching teen dramas. You can find them shouting into the void on his Instagram @inmytimeaway. Moara Flausino INTERVIEWER Moara is a journalism student from Brazil with…