We’re delighted to be joined by Eleanor Glewwe, author of “Limue’s Alphabet” in The Future Fire #74, for a quick chat about alphabets and languages, in this week’s installment of our micro-interview series.
TFF: What does “Limue's Alphabet” mean to you?
Art © Barbara Candiotti
Eleanor Glewwe: I was inspired to write this story when an author I followed on Twitter—I wish I could remember who—urged writers to “go weird.” I don't remember where the idea for the plot came from, but “Limue’s Alphabet” is the closest I’ve ever ventured toward horror. I’m also pleased by how its non-linear structure came together, and I always like being able to infuse my fiction with some linguistics.
TFF: What language or writing system would you most like to learn?
EG: Thanks to my newish research focus, I’ve learned to read the Georgian Mkhedruli alphabet, but I would love to be able to understand everything I can sound out. Separately, I wish I could speak Taishanese, the language of my mother's family. There's one Taishanese word tucked into “Limue’s Alphabet.”
TFF: Is there an art-form or creator from distant history that you still look at with admiration or awe?
EG: Johann Sebastian Bach came to mind, but I’m not sure he belongs to “distant” history. I could also say Georgian traditional polyphony, which I think is pretty ancient (sorry, I’m a bit of a Kartvelophile).
TFF: What are you working on next?
EG: I think “Limue’s Alphabet” is the last piece of fiction I’ve finished; I’ve been writing very slowly lately. But I am working (on and off) on another linguisticky short story set in a near-future Upper Midwest (U.S.).
Extract
In the dappled shade of a stand of bamboo, an old woman takes a stick and scratches two curved lines in the dusty yellow earth.
“Pai is for pera
Limue’s plucked eye”
Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-issue-202574.html.
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