The Ironist
Differing Perspectives
Inspiration
This is the second essay by Peter on the intricacies of the English language. Here, he writes on where inspiration comes from, and why no amount of effort can quite summon it. My first piece in the English language series talked about the quality of writing that...
WORDS, WORDS, WORDS…
Starting in April 2026, The Ironist is starting a running monthly series of articles on the English language written by our very own contributor Peter Scotchmer, a retired English teacher. Polonius: ‘What is the matter you read, my lord?’ Hamlet: ‘Words, words,...
Utopian Delusions
Peter Scotchmer writes about the enduring lure of utopia and why humanity’s attempts to build perfect societies so often end in dystopia. I will not walk with your progressive apes, Erect and sapient. Before them gapes The dark abyss to which their progress...
Prose Open Mic II (presented by The Irony Club and Mayil Coffee | 25 March 5 pm)
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer in possession of a finished piece must be in want of a community. How many of us have agonized over our drafts restlessly and endlessly, wondering who to read it to and what to do with it? We, at the Irony Club,...
RETVRN to Casablanca
The inconvenient Liberalism of a "traditional" classic “I’ve often wondered why you don’t return to America.” When the French police chief says this to Rick, we learn he’s an exile. We never learn why, but we get hints of communist leanings. “You ran guns to Ethiopia....
The Zambian Dream
Kachingo Sondo is a corresponding freelancer originally from a village outside of Garampande, near Livingstone, Zambia. Zambian village, by Tom Chiponge, Pixaby Call me Phiri. I drive a taxi in Lusaka. That is, when I have money, I rent a taxi to try and make more...
Air: The Fourth Elemental Ironist
The final one in the Ironist series - air - the silent carrier of truth, lies, and everything in between. Today, we conclude the Ironist series on the fourth element - air. Invisible, omnipresent, and so essential. Moving through us without fanfare. We inhale it,...
The Angel of the Archive: The Synod of the Left Shoe
Jonathan Bennet talks about surefooted stances in the world of shoes and the not-so-surefooted stances of those who argue about them. Among the lesser church councils of the thirteenth century—those trivial, haphazard regional gatherings of abbots and prelates...
Earth: The Third Elemental Ironist
Welcome back to the Ironist series. Today, we delve into the third ironist – the earth, humble but powerful. Having absorbed human ambitions with geological patience, it has witnessed empires crumble to dust, ideologies sink into nothingness and kingdoms pass like...