‘Gretel in Darkness’ is a 1975 poem by Louise Glück exploring trauma. The poem is a dramatic monologue spoken by Gretel, the little girl from the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. In the poem, Gretel directly addresses the readers/listeners and Hansel, and offers her intimate thoughts reflecting on how she is haunted psychologically by the memory of the witch she killed, in order to save herself and her brother Hansel.

The Ebony Horse is a story from the Arabian Nights, also known as the One Thousand and One Nights. The tale borders on being ‘science fiction’ before the genre existed. It sees a cunning inventor design an ebony horse which is capable of flying. A prince uses the horse to travel to other lands, where he falls in love with a princess. It is an entertaining tale, full of adventure and love and danger and suspense.

The Red Pearls is a Chinese Fairytale with a familiar set-up of love, magic, and immortality but takes a delightfully unexpected approach. It is a story of Liu Hai and Ninth Sister and how they have each other’s back and support each other. There’s a golden toad to stir things up but tune in to find out who’s side the godly magic is on.