Karl Hans Strӧbl was born in Jihlava, Moravia in the Czech Republic, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on the 18th of January 1877.His education finished with his studies at the University of Prague, where he became involved in nationalist student politics, a precursor to his later right-wing and anti-semitic viewpoints.In 1910 he wrote an apocalyptic novel ‘Eleagabal Kuperus’, which was later adapted into a silent film.His literary output was prolific and r...

There is something about the number 3.The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two.Most religions also have 3 this and 3 that and, of course, in these more modern times, three’s a crowd may be too many, except when it’s a ménage à trois. It seems good things usually come in threes.Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore them...

Throughout the long centuries of human history is the want, and the need, to share information, to exchange ideas and for that knowledge and experience, for curiosity and learning, to be the basis of a civil society.In literature the ambition is much narrower. In order to be known, to be popular, you had to be published. And for that people had to know you existed and your ideas worth reading. Obviously for most of humanity’s time people couldn’t read and texts couldn’t be publishe...

Walter Lionel George was born to British parents on the 20th March 1882 in Paris, France.It was not until he was a young man of 20 that he learned English. In 1905 he moved to London to work in an office but soon found himself working as a journalist, and as a foreign correspondent, for various London newspapers.By 1911, with the publication of his first novel ‘A Bed of Roses’, which portrayed the fall of a penniless young woman into prostitution, his efforts were rewarded,...

In the annual celebration of faith many things are not quite as they seem. Words in the hands of authors such as Anton Chekhov, Hugh Walpole, Ethel Lina White, Lucy Maud Montgomery and many others weave narratives that all become a little on the dark side.1 - A Strange Christmas - Tales from the Dark Side - An Introduction2 - At Christmas Time by Anton Chekhov3 - The Christmas Banquet by Nathaniel Hawthorne4 - The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson...

Being curious, learning from all of our experiences, is one of our most pleasing traits as human beings.In this series we examine particular facets of ourselves and, with the aid of many classic authors, delve into characters and stories that not only entertain us, but inform us on how short stories can help us both deal and understand issues that touch and weave into our lives with the words and narratives of many wise talents.In this volume our literary friends offer thei...

The bookshelves of European literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From this continent their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them is the Danish writer Jørgen Vilhelm Bergsøe.

Writing can be a lonely art. Distractions and writers block are just two of the many impediments to a burnished stream of prose. But sometimes two heads really can be better than one. When one author decides to team up with another, either occasionally or full time, their new creations seem to amplify and encourage the words and ideas of each writer, helping to create narratives that are both new, and perhaps beyond the scope of just one of them. Collaborating and sounding off of one anoth...

The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them is J J Bell.

An author’s talents may seem obvious and indisputable as they move words and ideas into gathered phrases and stories.But where do these ideas and stories come from? A lonely thought that suddenly gathers form? An inspiration from a Muse? A suggestion from an everyday event?Perhaps in the case of their darker, more malevolent stories, other forces are at work. They help to nourish single words into sentences and paragraphs that ease themselves from the shadows and are sudden...

The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them is the Suffragette Sarah Grand.

Throughout the long centuries of human history is the want, and the need, to share information, to exchange ideas and for that knowledge and experience, for curiosity and learning, to be the basis of a civil society.In literature the ambition is much narrower. In order to be known, to be popular, you had to be published. And for that people had to know you existed and your ideas worth reading. Obviously for most of humanity’s time people couldn’t read and texts couldn’t be publishe...