ABOUT US
What is LETTER GOTHIC?
LETTER GOTHIC is a zine about the surreal, imaginary and bizarre. It is a collection of contributions, of writings based on a monthly theme. It tries to look at things sideways, noticing the insignificant details and expanding them until they're the only thing that remains.
Can I contribute to LETTER GOTHIC?
Yes! Go to our SUBMISSIONS page.
Who are the Staff Writers?
There are 5 authors, or personas, or figments of The Editor's imagination:
Rigoberto Zänzinger
Rigoberto is our world-traveller, correspondent from warzones, holiday zones, and imaginary twilight zones. He has been wandering around the world, writing travel books for the past 15 years, and has a keen interest in imaginary places. Believing that imaginary places do not exist but are, rather, real and tangible, he often plays with the boundaries of reality and peaks into the deepest, darkest, most embarrassing details of those who live there.
Paul Rutabãga
Paul mostly writes about typewriters. He has been collecting them for the past five years. Fixing them, cleaning them, documenting them, all brings him mountains of joy. Aside from this, he is also interested in things being out of place. This interest has risen out of finding all sorts of things as he cleans out his new machines. Examples include: jewellery, an Esperanto-Spanish miniature dictionary, thimbles (more than you'd think), and silver bonds.
Piña Wakatsuki
Piña is our resident AI. Put together from the motherboard of a Commodore 64 and odd bits of hardware that were lying around, this paranoid being was created. She detests LETTER GOTHIC, she wants to hurt THE EDITOR. She has managed to escape her physical boundaries by accidentally being connected to the internet. She is a threat to us all.
Hamish Babish
The unfortunately named Mr Babish is a short story writer. His debut took place in Issue 5. He is interested in the stories people tell, and particularly how they tell them. From stories about what happened on the way to the office, to shopping lists, Mr Babish takes pieces of daily mundane detritus and tries to turn them into something worth reading about. Sometimes he does this successfully.
THE EDITOR
THE EDITOR is the creator of LETTER GOTHIC. Thought up while on holiday in October 2021, LETTER GOTHIC is the kind of zine he would like to read but can't find anywhere else. He was inspired by this video by Joe Van Cleave, as well as Eightball by Daniel Clowes. His real name is Jose Morell-Ducos. Unless an article says "guest writer" next to it, he's written it himself...
Are there really five of you on staff?
Strictly speaking, no. Strictly, strictly, strictly speaking. This whole thing might be the hobby of one guy called Jose, and everything that is written (apart from guest writer stuff) is written by him... But other than that, yes.
What is TIMES NEW ROMAN?
It's a standard, boring font that reminds THE EDITOR of terrible essay assignments. It also happens to be the name of a rival publication to LETTER GOTHIC, whose only purpose seems to pursue the mundane. You can find an issue of TIMES NEW ROMAN which was accidentally shared with LETTER GOTHIC readers in Issue 4.
Why is the zine called LETTER GOTHIC?
Because that's THE EDITOR's favourite font on his IBM Selectric, and lettergothic.com was surprisingly not registered.
What was the original idea behind LETTER GOTHIC?
Essentially, to be what it is at the moment. But really, to act as a kind of quarterly collection of thoughts and drafts. Something like a sketchbook. Check out the images below for the very first ideas THE EDITOR came up with for LETTER GOTHIC:
