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

‘Hope, he said. ‘Damn thing never leaves you alone.’ Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun It takes patience to read Ishiguro. Slowly, and carefully, as…

‘Nobody knows my heart. It’s hidden deep side my coat, my skin, my ribs. My heart was important for nine months inside my mother’s belly,…

It is the perfect time of the year to curl up with a mug of hot cocoa and a good book. These five books are…

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.