Coming soon, my story, ‘Your Bodies, Where We Dwell’ in…

Raphus Press proudly presents Crystal Castles (Invitations to the Voyage), a collection of short stories, a play and some poems regarding an ancient and very peculiar literary genre – the artificial paradises created by synthetical (or natural) substances.”Les Paradis artificiels” – since the Lotus-eaters, mentioned by Homer in his Odyssey, the narcotic ecstasy was seen and represented in a variety of ways, a sensory flow that led to both hell and paradise. Many authors of considerable importance have plunged into narcosis, leaving astonishing testimonies from this dive: Thomas de Quincey, Theophile Gautier, Charles Baudelaire, Jean Lorrain, Jean Cocteau, Mikhail Bulgakov, Aldous Huxley, Philip K. Dick, William S. Burroughs and so on. And there were also creators who used their own poisons, neurotoxins, to construct their imaginary worlds.

Thus, we present our readers with the collection Crystal Castles, a tribute to all the artificial paradises projected by the narrative imagination in its long history. And also our invitation for a continuous voyage – because there are not only tales here, but also memory fables, plays, poems. Here, the multifaceted worlds created by Ramon Lasalle, Rhys Hughes, Fernando Naporano, Justin Isis, Fábio Waki, Jonathan Wood, Chris Mikul, D.P. Watt, Thomas Phillips, Fernando Klabin and Stephan Friedman.​

Crystal Castles (Invitations to the Voyage), the book (4.7 x 8.8 in.), 130 pages, designed by Raphus Press Immanent Headquarters, printed in the Forma Certa. A collection with pieces inspired by the artificial and even natural paradises/hells. Collaborations by Ramon Lasalle, Rhys Hughes, Fernando Naporano, Justin Isis, Fábio Waki, Jonathan Wood, Chris Mikul, D.P. Watt, Thomas Phillips, Fernando Klabin and Stephan Friedman. As usual, this edition will be very scarce: only 77 numbered copies, plus some (very few) private copies.