Category Archives: News

Drawing Him Hither

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Another illustration provided by Christiana Spens for a short film based on the first chapter of my work-in-progress, Loren Ipsum.

“Then he got up to refill her glass and, instinctively, she got up too and then they were kissing, deep and slow, their tongues going round and round and round like the ground bass number in the background, and he gently lifted up her summer frock as the melody soared over the looping bassline and she found herself reclining in a Le Corbusier-style chaise longue. ‘J’aime quand ça s’incarne,’ she whispered, drawing him hither with her long legs.”

Zanzibar’s Kitchen Corkboard

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Another illustration provided by Christiana Spens for a short film based on the first chapter of my work-in-progress, Loren Ipsum.

“She had four sisters and one brother. It was the latter, Athelstan, who had taken the picture that was proudly displayed on Zanzibar’s kitchen corkboard: Andromeda, Lunula, Phylloxera, and Loren, all stark naked, on a Cornish beach (a re-enactment of the famous 1914 shot of the Olivier sisters).”

The Blue Yonder You Can Never Possess

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Here’s another fine illustration provided by Christiana Spens for a short film based on the first chapter of my work-in-progress, Loren Ipsum.

“He pictured Loren curled up on the floor by the open fire, her flared ultramarine skirt like an Yves Klein swirl lapping at her bare ankles; her face concealed by the book she was reading out loud — something heart-rending about the blue yonder you can never possess.”

Cheeky Spritz

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Here’s one of the wonderful illustrations provided by Christiana Spens for a short film based on the first chapter of my work-in-progress, Loren Ipsum. That’s Loren Ipsum on the left, with Victorine Gribiche — her French translator — on the right.

“The two young women could often be found, giggling away over a cheeky spritz, at La Fourmi, after their Pilates class.”

Indecipherable Chicken-Scratch Squiggles

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Sam Mills had the good taste to choose “Celesteville’s Burning: A Work in Regress” as part of her contribution (5 February 2021) to A Personal Anthology, a fine series curated by Jonathan Gibbs.

‘Celesteville’s Burning: A Work in Regress’ by Andrew Gallix

Sostène Zanzibar, a successful novelist based in Paris, is suffering a midlife crisis and struggling with creative inspiration. When the journalist Loren Ipsum comes to interview him, they embark on a love affair that ends in humiliation for Zanzibar, who then descends into crisis. The prose is beautifully crafted, the story a wonderful mixture of literary satire, erudite references, superb puns and zingy one-liners, and jokes that made me laugh out loud — Zanzibar’s ex “publicly pooh-poohed his cunnilingus technique, comparing the result as a series of ‘indecipherable chicken-scratch squiggles’”. As the story progresses, there is a shift in tone from comic to poignant and the ending is dreamy and bittersweet.

First published in The White Review, and available to read online. Collected in We’ll Never Have Paris, Repeater Books, 2019.

Loren Ipsum – The Movie

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This short film, by Julie Kamon, is based on an extract from my novel-in-progress, Loren Ipsum. The music and soundtrack are by Also Known as Ariel (aka London-based Argentine author Fernando Sdrigotti). Readings by Susanna Crossman, S.J. Fowler, Stewart Home, Sam Mills, and C.D. Rose.

The film was published by 3:AM Magazine on 13 January 2021. It premiered on Carthorse Orchestra, David Collard‘s online literary salon.

“From the opening shot (a stylish nod to Jacques Demy) this is a wonderful, assured, immersive ten minutes in which sound, text and image align perfectly. Repays multiple viewings” – David Collard.

Also Known As Loren Ipsum

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Also Known As Ariel (aka London-based Argentine author Fernando Sdrigotti) has kindly composed this eerie soundtrack for a forthcoming video (by Julie Kamon) showcasing an extract from my novel-in-progress Loren Ipsum. More soon.



You can also find it on Spotify.

On Mooning Considered as One of the Fine Arts

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I have a short story — “On Mooning Considered as One of the Fine Arts” — in ZenoPress’s latest annual anthology, Zahir: Desire and Eclipse.

Here is the publisher’s blurb:

Zahir: Desire and Eclipse is a new collection of writings including essays, poems, experimental texts and short stories. This issue features works by both established and emerging artists and writers.

The starting point for this new anthology is the short story by Jorge Luis Borges ‘The Zahir’. Zahir is an Arabic word that indicates a concept or object that obsesses man, to the point of making him lose touch with reality. The Zahir at first may appear insignificant, it insinuates itself into the mind and invades it occupying every corner. It becomes an obsession that can only be freed by going to meet it, looking for it and making it one’s own forever.

Within the realms of poetry, essays and short stories, this anthology explores how the Zahir — something both very serious and vaguely absurd — sticks on our minds and refuses to be shaken. The aim is to consider how its cultural meanings are produced and how it shapes and resonates in our imagination, as well as causing consequences in various aspect of life. Each work investigates how the Zahir allows itself to be a screen onto which we project our anxieties and desires and functions as a mirror in which we see ourselves reflected.

Featuring works by:

Andrew Dyer, Andrew Gallix, Annie Q. Syed, Anthony Etherin, C.C. O’Hanlon, David Roden, Emma Bolland, Flowerville, Genese Grill, Geoff Saunders, Iris Colomb, Julia Rose Lewis, Kate Wakeling, Octavia Bright and Rushda Rafeek.

Edited by Christian Patracchini.