Four Letter Word: Original Love Letters - Rilegato

“A wonderfully varied exercise in creativity. Without doubt, love looks different in the 21st century: harder, more disposable, subject to the whims of the mobile phone and internet technology, which is ironically frequently referred to here. Love at its most sublime is expressed in short spurts, or through a filter of cynicism. This is not the collection for those in pursuit of screaming romance. . . . Ridiculously enjoyable. A true pleasure.” –The Guardian (UK)

“From tales of rapture and repression to humorous exchanges between jilted lovers, the collection presents the reader with a kaleidoscope of ideas on how to approach the subject. . . . This is a seductive anthology which manages to appeal to the head as well as the heart.” Time Out (London)

“The calibre of the 41 writers who have contributed to this potent collection, from Margaret Atwood, Jeanette Winterson, and AL Kennedy to Michel Faber, Hari Kunzru and Neil Gaiman, is testament itself to our lingering fondness for this most seductive of genres. . . . Many of the letters are heartbreaking, crystallising into just a couple of pages the disappointment or pain that reverberates through a whole life. . . . This is a collection to dip into and savour. . . .” Scotland on Sunday

“Each [author] has written of love for every type of relationship, and for every exquisite shade of the emotion. Each letter is a short story, crisp and fully realised . . . [Josh Knelman and Rosalind Porter] have brought wit and passion together in [this] totally original collection . . . [U]nleash[es] the romantic in all of us.” –The Telegraph (UK)

Joshua Knelman was a founding member of The Walrus magazine. His writing has appeared in The Walrus, Toronto Life, TORO, Saturday Night, Quill & Quire, the National Post and the Globe and Mail. He lives in Toronto.

Rosalind Porter is a Senior Editor at Granta Magazine and has written for the Spectator, the Times Literary Supplement, the Financial Times Magazine and Time Out. She lives in London.