Why I’m launching The Library of Babel

Hello to all you potential Babylonians. Start here to figure out what this newsletter is all about

Hey there, it’s lovely to “meet” you.

You’ve arrived here out of every other possible place on this vast, complex, and bizarre universe we call The Internet.

I’m truly honored and humbled by that. So you’re here. But what can you expect to find in The Library of Babel? Well, first off - me, or more precisely, my writing and thinking in the form of essays - long and short.

What I’m most interested in, and the reason I quit my full time job to focus writing about, is what I consider to be the intersection of Literature, History and (what I refer to pretty vaguely as) Magic.

Each week I intend to publish one long-ish essay about a topic I find fascinating. These essays could range from ‘The first time God’s angels rebelled’, to ‘Becoming Kwisatz Haderach: From the Talmudic sages to Dune’ or possibly a story about 'Why I'd actually prefer to be sent to the first circle of hell than to heaven’.

And every couple of weeks I’ll publish a new episode on The Library of Babel Podcast. Each time I have a conversation with a scholar, a writer or translator about a literary work we both love, or about a literary topic we both find fascinating. You can listen to the podcast here on Substack or anywhere you get your podcasts (Spotify, Apple podcasts and so on).

Oh, and alongside the essays you'll find here, I'm also working on two novels - one is about the Tarot… But that's for another time.

So for now you might consider subscribing to The Library of Babel. I encourage you to read, comment and share whatever you found interesting or helpful in some way.

In the future I promise to offer more interesting stuff like courses or guided book clubs on specific topics ("Greek literature from Homer to I'm not sure yet" is an idea I'm looking forward to).

Hope you find some interest and even a bit of joy in here. And don't forget to subscribe. And if you want to continue the conversation privately you’re welcome to hit me up on [email protected]