‘The most beautiful, most human traits are contained in the Odyssey. In Rome, when I had finished about half of the Portrait, I realised that the Odyssey had to be the sequel, and I began to write Ulysses.’
James Joyce in Zurich, 1917.
Interview | Aea Varfis-van Warmelo: ‘There is no such thing as a reliable narrator.’
‘There is no such thing as a reliable narrator, and efforts to achieve real truth often destroy it.’
Harriet Armstrong interviews Aea Varfis-van Warmelo.
The London Magazine Short Story Prize 2026
The London Magazine Short Story Prize 2026 is now open.
The winning stories will be published in future issues of The London Magazine. Winners will also receive cash prizes and be celebrated at a prize-giving ceremony at the end of the year.
We are delighted to announce that Camilla Grudova, Tim MacGabhann and Ayşegül Savaş will be this year’s judges for the prize.
Archive | A Cavafy Find
‘My friends, when I was in love / It was many years ago / I did not share the same earth / With other mortal beings.’
From 1956, three early poems by C. P. Cavafy.
Archive | A Letter from Marcel Proust
‘I have had a great sorrow; and my heart is not one of those that can, without a bitter pang, transpose into the past that which (be it even a mere object) was as you once were, the predilection of their present and the hope of their future.’
An unpublished letter by Marcel Proust.
Interview | ‘I don’t go to poetry to feel better’: An Interview with Victoria Chang
‘How do you write silence? That’s what I’m trying to do. How do you write death before you’ve experienced it? That’s what I’m trying to do.’
Luke Dunne interviews Victoria Chang.
Archive | The Naked by Marguerite Yourcenar
‘What am I to do? Shall I conquer an empire? Shall I build a temple? Shall I write a poem that will endure longer? The fragmentary nature of action saps my inclination to act, and every victory is merely a broken mirror in which I cannot see the whole of myself.’
From 1956, an archive piece by Marguerite Yourcenar.
Interview | Capitalism Against Itself: An Interview with Hettie O’Brien
‘A water company running up debts to enrich its investors is permissible, but a government that borrows to invest in the public realm, not so much.’
Sruti Basak interviews Hettie O’Brien.
Interview | Mariana Enriquez: Seven Questions
‘Why would you do that – visit cemeteries?’ is a sentiment often expressed to me, voicing some kind of disgust, as if I did something like, I don’t know, collect vomit.
Konrad Muller interviews Mariana Enriquez.
Archive | The Hitchhiking Game by Milan Kundera
‘It seemed to him that the girl he loved was a creation of his desire, his thoughts, and his faith and that the real girl now standing in front of him was hopelessly alien, hopelessly ambiguous. He hated her.’
From 1978, short fiction by Milan Kundera.
Essay | The New Religious Radicals by Martín Francisco Saps
‘Growing up in suburban Chicago, I was often told that there were two topics I should never raise with strangers: politics and religion. This was a time where secular individualism was the ultimate marker of freedom.’
Martín Francisco Saps on the rise of a new religious politics.
Poetry | Helen When Asked by Nina Reljić
‘My face was not the most beautiful / but any person was entitled to think it was / and what terrifying pleasure in that.’
Nina Reljić’s winning poem in this year’s Poetry Prize.
Review | A Very British Revolt by John Merrick
‘Britain, whoever is in power, is a small-c conservative place.’
John Merrick on the 1926 General Strike.
New Issue and Tote Bag Bundle
With the new issue and tote bag bundle, save 20% on the cost of the June / July 2026 issue and the bespoke TLM tote. The latest issue includes the winning poems from this year’s Poetry Prize, as well as new work by Nick Laird and Lawrence Osborne, and The London Magazine 2026 Survey of Poets, featuring responses from Don Paterson,…
£20.00
Podcast
On The London Magazine podcast, we speak to brilliant writers, poets and artists about their craft, inspiration and career so far. New episodes every month.
Podcast | Ann Goldstein
Ann Goldstein discusses the oxymoron of the ‘celebrated translator’, her early encounters with Italian through Dante and the story of how she became Ferrante’s translator. Goldstein reflects on Ferrante’s unique syntax and style, as well as the broader challenges of Italian–English translation.
Podcast | Gurnaik Johal
‘This is where I say to any budding writers out there: write historical fiction!’
Gurnaik Johal on The London Magazine Podcast.
Podcast | Leo Robson
‘One of the things that the novel is about is different forms of chronology that we mark things by.’
Leo Robson on The London Magazine Podcast.
Archive
The London Magazine has a publication history spanning almost three hundred years, and has featured work by some of the most prominent names in literature, from John Keats to Hilary Mantel. In this curated selection, we share our favourite pieces from the TLM archive.
Archive | Conversations with James Joyce
‘The most beautiful, most human traits are contained in the Odyssey. In Rome, when I had finished about half of the Portrait, I realised that the Odyssey had to be the sequel, and I began to write Ulysses.’
James Joyce in Zurich, 1917.
Archive | A Cavafy Find
‘My friends, when I was in love / It was many years ago / I did not share the same earth / With other mortal beings.’
From 1956, three early poems by C. P. Cavafy.
Archive | A Letter from Marcel Proust
‘I have had a great sorrow; and my heart is not one of those that can, without a bitter pang, transpose into the past that which (be it even a mere object) was as you once were, the predilection of their present and the hope of their future.’
An unpublished letter by Marcel Proust.
