The inspirations and origins for our stories.
L’Erin Ogle’s story “All the Colors I Cannot See” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 24 August 2018. “All the Colors I Cannot See” began with the idea I had that a man hissed snakes into a girl’s ear. The snakes laid eggs, hatched into birds, and drove the girl mad. Grace then became the central character as the story came out, because I wanted to have the narrator as an observer of the character …
A. Martine’s story “Just a Fire” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 17 August 2018. “Just a Fire” was initially inspired by a lifelong love of fairy tales and mythologies from around the world; their occasional absurdity triggered in me a strong interest in retellings and parodies. More specifically, it was the manner in which stories across time and cultures resembled each other that I always found compelling, and I’ve always wanted to feature that …
Mads Alvey’s story “Upon the Fallen Leaves of the Gingko Tree” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 10 August 2018. Many of my story ideas start with a single line—usually the first line in the final draft—which repeats over and over in my mind. “Upon the Fallen Leaves of the Ginkgo Tree” was one of these stories. When I began the story, my walk to school every day involved going through a neighborhood which was …
J. Tynan Burke’s story “The Bagel Shop Owner’s Nephew” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 3 August 2018. Late last year, an acquaintance recommended the documentary ‘Obit,’ about the obituary department at the New York Times. I was struck by the frazzled archivist who runs the clippings morgue. At the same time, I was flipping through Borges’s ‘Book of Imaginary Beings,’ and found an entry on the Tzadikim Nistarim (which Borges called ‘Lamed Wufniks’). So …
Phong Quan’s story “It Feels Like Déjà Vu” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 27 July 2018. “It Feels Like Déjà Vu” is the culmination of many different influences from throughout my life. I wrote the first scene many years ago while I was in college, involving the two (at that time unnamed) main characters talking as a shift occurred. In that scene, the character that would become Ely is trying to remind Jon of …
Felicity Drake’s story “The Dream Diary of Monk Anchin” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 20 July 2018. A few years ago, I went to see a special exhibition at the Idemitsu Museum in Tokyo, and I was particularly charmed by a portrait much like the one in the story. Researching or translating premodern texts can feel like having a conversation with someone from the past, sometimes in a surprisingly intimate way. I wanted to …
