Mircea Eliade: Time, Death, and the Unspeakable Secret

Translated from Romanian by Mac Linscott Ricketts, Edited by Bryan Rennie

Istros Books

The Romanian writer Mircea Eliade (1907-1986) is best known in the English-speaking world as an influential Historian of Religion, author of such works as The Sacred and the Profane and The Myth of the Eternal Return. However, Eliade’s body of work is much broader, and throughout his life he kept the world of fiction and mysticism very close to his heart. Starting at the age of fourteen, Eliade continuously produced works of fiction alongside his academic work.
This volume consists of six of his best short stories, taken from over a 30-year period, starting in 1959 with “A Fourteen-Year-Old Photograph” – the tale of a distance healing in which the patient claims miracle while the healer admits artifice – and including perhaps his most famous short story, the time-shifting “At the Gypsies,” and culminating with “In the Shadow of a Lily,” the last story Eliade is known to have written. Each of these stories is dense with allusions and interwoven with connections and references drawn from the imagination and vast knowledge of a great man. Who knows what secrets they may conceal? One thing is for sure – they will repay repeated close reading, but will also charm on the first encounter.

 

 

Writing Short Stories (third edition) by Ailsa Cox

The third edition of Writing Short Stories has been revised and updated to provide a complete guide to the craft of writing short stories. It emphasizes the importance of voice as a foundation for work on characterization, imagery, dialogue and pace, as readers move from their first sketches to working on more complex narrative structures.

Ailsa Cox guides readers through key aspects of the craft, providing a variety of case studies of classic and contemporary core texts. The wide range of writers discussed includes Edgar Allan Poe, Katherine Mansfield, Angela Carter, Alice Munro, Ali Smith, Iphgenia Baal, Octavia E. Butler and William Gibson. The diversity and flexibility of the short story genre is highlighted throughout, along with the specific challenges the writer faces. The book considers a range of genres, such as fantasy, science fiction, horror, autobiography, romance, comedy and satire. The new edition also includes extra insights into getting published, including publishing a first collection, with an updated list of resources and trends in short story writing.

This inspiring guide is the ideal companion for those new to the genre or for anyone looking to improve their technique. Each chapter contains a series of engaging exercises to help readers develop their skills and build confidence in their writing. There are also bolded key terms, with an extensive glossary at the end of the book.