This is a space for the stories that linger. You’ll find Slavic myths retold, original poetry, book reviews, and honest writing about the creative life — the work behind the work, and the life behind the work. Old stories have always carried something we haven’t quite named yet. That’s why we keep returning to them.


When I moved house in 2023, moving my home library was a special slice of hell. It took me six months to arrange my bookshelves the way I liked them and to finally feel comfortable and settled in my reading space. I used the upheaval as a reason to install…

I read Land by Maggie O’Farrell a few weeks ago, and it took me time to understand how I felt about it and what I wanted to say. O’Farrell’s book is wide open, like the land itself. She takes a place, a windswept peninsula in the west of Ireland, puts…

Gods, spirits, and old tales

Poems for the moments that don’t fit

On writing, making things, and building a creative career

1.0 Introduction Throughout his work Edgar Allan Poe is guided by the idea explained in his “Philosophy of Composition” where he says that the best…

Today has been one of those days. The thermos opened in the bag somehow. All the papers, the wallet, the phone, the AC remote, drenched…

I’m standing in the sand By the side of the road Leaning against the hood of my car Like an unenthusiastic prostitute Waiting for the…

Sunset comes with age, Senility coats it with oblivion, Separates it from the rigid reality. Thoughts wander through some vast valleys, And nobody can find you.…

I’m Erna — writer, poet, devoted cat lady, and a marketer who came to it the strange way, through stories. Slavic mythology sits at the heart of this space, alongside original poetry, book reviews, and honest writing about the creative life.
Pull up a chair. There’s always something worth reading.
Beneath the Surface is a poetry collection about the things we don’t say out loud — the secrets, the weaknesses, the quiet monsters of everyday life. Read more.
New myths, new poems, new stories — whenever they’re ready.