Album Zutique

The first of a planned series of pocket books (5 x 6.7 and under 200 pages) mainly focused on surreal and decadent literature. Jeff VanderMeer will serve as series editor and the editor of the first number. Thereafter, VanderMeer will enlist guest editors to edit subsequent numbers of this series. The emphasis will be on nonfiction as well as fiction. For purposes of continuity, each volume will have the same basic layout, with the typography used as the cover art and a different color scheme for each book. History/Background: Zutique was a writers' group extant during the Decadent period in France (late 1800s). It included Verlaine and Rimbaud. Accounts indicate that Album Zutique was an open journal or blank book in which members of the writers' group would scribble down stories and poems. The book was kept at a cafi where those who frequented the cafi could read it. Contents: A Guide to the Zoo, Stepan Chapman The Beautiful Gelreesh, Jeffrey Ford The Toes of the Sun, Rhys Hughes My Stark Lady, D.F. Lewis Python, Ursula Pflug Free Time, James Sallis The Scream, Michael Cisco Dr. Black in Rome, Brendan Connell Lights, D.F. Lewis Mortal Love, Elizabeth Hand (an excerpt)A Dream of the Dead, Steve Rasnic Tem A Hero for the Dark Towns, Jay Lake The Catgirl Manifesto, Christina FlookEternal Horizon, Rhys Hughes