Category Archives: Writing

Heroes & Villains/Heroes and Villains

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Heroes and Villains is set in a wild, post-apocalyptic world where folks are divided by a rigid social hierarchy —the Professors, the Barbarians, and the mutant Out People. Young Marianne of the Professor class is abducted by Barbarian Jewel and … Continue reading →

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A people who have never experienced autumn foliage are inclined to be backward.

Posted on October 2, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

When you were an infant in Italy I was very disconcerted to be told that much of the Italian population had never seen the beauties of the autumn foliage in Vermont and New Hampshire. High in the Abruzzi there are … Continue reading →

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“Amargura Para Tres Sonámbulos”

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

“Bitterness for Three Sleepwalkers” is a 1949 short story by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. Published when he was just twenty-two years old, it is one of his earliest stories. “Bitterness for Three Sleepwalkers” by Gabriel García Márquez translated … Continue reading →

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It’s really all about mutual aid

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

It may seem to be a big leap from U.S. Presidential politics to a book published in 1902 by a Russian scientist and anarchist, but this week watching the electioneering I have been thinking about Peter Kropokin’s seminal work Mutual … Continue reading →

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I met a traveller from an antique land

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Ozymandias, 2017 by Alasdair Gray (1934-2019)  

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Making of an Icon

Posted on September 23, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Kafka: Making of an Icon is an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death and celebrating not only Kafka’s achievements and creativity, but also his continuing inspiration for new literary, theatrical and artistic creations around the world. After … Continue reading →

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Lit Box

Posted on September 19, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

To celebrate 25 years of publishing and its 74th issue, the San Francisco-based magazine McSweeney’s is offering a lunchbox packed with literary treats. Instead of a PB&J sandwich and an apple, the retro-inspired box includes sets of author cards, pencils … Continue reading →

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Railway Parable

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Erich Kästner, Das Eisenbahngleichnis, 1931  

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When Ray Bradbury channeled Herman Melvile

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I was today years old when I learned that the iconic American Sci-Fi writer Ray Bradbury was also a Hollywood screenwriter. The Los Angeles Review of Books recently published a fascinating story on the fraught collaboration between Bradbury and the … Continue reading →

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It’s all one thing

Posted on September 13, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

HYMN TO TIME by Ursula K. Le Guin Time says “Let there be” every moment and instantly there is space and the radiance of each bright galaxy. And eyes beholding radiance. And the gnats’ flickering dance. And the seas’ expanse. … Continue reading →

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