Two French writers, one dueling field, and a rivalry that feels more than a bit just, in today’s episode we’re talking about Marcel Proust and Jean Lorrain with poet, memoirist, and fiction writer Jiordan Castle (Disappearing Act). Whose side are you on? Are you also on Team Ether? Let’s discuss.

Okay, okay, before you get all up in arms here, we are away Tolkien and Lewis weren’t actually rivals, per say. But they did have a bitter falling out that left them at odds with one another for years. One that the two former friends came to regret terribly.

We’ll unpack this historic falling out, how these two came to dislike one another, and just how close and similar they were with award-winning fantasy icon Fran Wilde (Updraft, The Book of Gems, and endless more wonderful stories).

In our very first episode we are joined by the incredible Farah Naz Rishi, author of I Hope You Get This Message and If It All Comes Back to You.

H.G. Wells and Henry James are easily recognizable names, as their influence on sci-fi and horror is still felt to this day… and as is the heat from their incredibly petty rivalry. Did H.G. Wells’ snub of a man who once hailed him as one of the most brilliant people he’s ever met… actually KILL Henry James?

We’ll let you be the judge, in our first episode.

Well, here we are with episode one. Welcome.

This is the trailer, you know, where we introduce the thing. The premise? Twice a month, writers Eric Smith and Chris Urie are joined by a special literary guest, to unpack some of the greatest (and not so greatest) rivalries in literary history. From the shocking to the hilarious, the wildly sad to the downright petty, we’ll be digging into it all, and hopefully learning and laughing along the way.

Welcome to ArchPenemies.

See what you can learn.