The Desperate Literature Notebook
The Desperate Literature Notebook
€8.00
Our notebook is finally out
Oxblood red lines with a blindstamped cover
120 pages
Out of stock
Casualties of Peace
Edna O’BRIEN
dedicated to Geraldine Chaplin
GIFTS, Literature, Rare items
Jonathan Cape, London,
1966
This particular copy is signed to Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of Charlie Chaplin, who for many years lived in Madrid!
We acquired a good part of her Madrid collection last year and this is one of the treats.
Acquired before Edna O'Brien's passing, we removed the post-it note with her telephone number!
CONTACT US at hello@desperateliterature.com for more info or to book a visit!
€225.00
CONTACT US at hello@desperateliterature.com for more info or to book a visit!
€225.00
Sold out
Alejandro Zambra (SIGNED)
GIFTS, Hotcakes, LiteratureTo help raise funds for our imminent move, this month we're selling our signed Alejandro Zambra translations. There's the added bonus of the copies also being signed by Zambra's translator, Megan McDowell!
There's a limited amount, so get them while you can!
...and of course we'll throw in some merch for good measure... ALL EDITIONS IN ENGLISH
€20.00
‘Eleven Stories 2026’
.pdf + print edition (PRE-ORDER)
Eleven Stories, GIFTS, Literary Prize, Literature ‘The Desperate Literature Short Story Prize remains a beacon for experiment in times when this is both increasingly rare and increasingly vital’ —Joanna Walsh
‘so structurally inventive’ —Ottessa Moshfegh
Eleven Stories 2026 collects the shortlist from our ninth short fiction prize and is available in either:- PDF - €2.5
- PRINT + PDF - €11 / a limited edition copy and the PDF to boot. **shipping is temporarily suspended due to Trumps tarifs and new EU shipping laws. It will recommence in the autumn.
Spanning continents, Eleven Stories 2026 collects stories of wit and transformation, from the playful to the experimental, covering everything from personal grief and reparation to coming-of-age oddities, meditations on writing in the age of AI, metatextual friendships, (sacre)religious delvings and more... Including work by: Mimi Kawahara (WINNER), Emily Roese (RUNNER-UP), Eric Baker (RUNNER-UP), Katie Assef, Saad Bin Iftikhar, Imogen Clarke, Christian Emecheta, Jennifer Green, Esther Leaming (DL RESIDENCY PRIZE), L. J. de Pedro (EU SALON PRIZE), Alexandra Symons-Sutcliffe ABOUT THIS YEAR'S WINNING STORY:
‘devastatingly intimate...accomplishes something exceedingly rare.’ —Ottessa Moshfegh
PLEASE NOTE: for orders over 5 copies, please contact us at hello@desperateliterature.com
€2.50 – €11.00
22 Fictions:
An Anthology
No Category
A CHEERIO collaboration with two of Europe’s leading writing prizes — a collection of innovative short fiction from 22 of the most exciting writers currently working in the form.
“If 22 Fictions is an argument for the short form, it is winning. A book worth studying.”
— Isabel Waidner, Goldsmiths Prize winning author of Sterling Karat Gold and Corey Fah Does Social Mobility
A curated selection drawn from the first five years of two indie bookseller-run projects—Madrid’s Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize and London’s Brick Lane Bookshop Short Story Prize—these 22 Fictions feature Purim celebrations, multiple Stuart Halls, a kidnapping, gender injustice, an aeroplane fleeing a volcano, gender injustice, a chicken shop menu, climate change, a shaved horse, activism, and much besides, all the while roaming from a Cornish farming village to a Paris basement, a hotel bar, an island with a steep hill, a location deep within the internet, a family dinner table and further.
Proudly internationalist and profoundly imaginative, the 22 stories in this vital anthology are wild, innovative, funny, sad, harrowing and tender. Together they celebrate the energy and diversity of short fiction writing today, pushing the boundaries of the form into new territory and bringing together a radical new generation of writers from across the globe.
Featuring work from:
Shola Von Reinhold, Leeor Ohayon, Tom Benn, Alice Haworth-Booth, N G F Clark, Danielle Giles, Francesca Reece, Melody Razak, Mariana Roa Oliva, Giovanna Iozzi, Suey Kweon, K. Lockwood Jefford, Katie Hale, Max Lury, Jay Gao, Aoife Inman, Andrea Mason, Aisha Phoenix, Isha Karki, Jack Houston, Siri Katinka Valdez, Rajasree Variyar.
Foreword by Joanna Walsh and an introduction by Wendy Erskine, former judges of the two prizes.
Edited by Kate Ellis and Robert Loyko-Greer, published by CHEERIO.
“Bold and emboldening — each story here engages with the form in new and rewarding ways.”
— Gurnaik Johal, author of We Move and Saraswati
“Partnering with two of the world’s most forward-thinking booksellers to publish the razor-edge of contemporary writing speaks exactly to the DIY spirit CHEERIO was founded on. A dream.”
– Darren Biabowe Barnes, Editorial Director of CHEERIO Publishing
€19.50
€19.50