New short story anthology focussed on Charlie Chaplin to include Louise Brooks

Jerome Charyn emailed to let me know he has written a new story involving Louise Brooks. The acclaimed novelist has written about the actress (both fiction and non-fiction) in the past. Back in 2020, he penned a novella, Lulu in Love, which was excerpted in Fiction magazine.

Charyn's new short story, "Celestial Summer," is actually about Charlie Chaplin and Louise Brooks. It's set to appear in an anthology of stories about Chaplin titled Tramps, Seducers and Dictators, which will be published in hardcover in September 2027. 

The collection is edited by the noted anthologist and writer Maxim Jakubowski. This is the table of contents for

Maxim Jakubowski  INTRODUCTION

Jerome Charyn  CELESTIAL SUMMER

Barbara Nadel  KAFURSTENBLASTENDAM!

Vaseem Khan  A MEETING OF TITANS

Rose Biggin  COMING OUT OF RETIREMENT

David Quantick  HOORAY FOR HYNKELWOOD

William Boyle  SCHMUCK

Christine Poulson  THE GREAT DICTATOR

Tom Mead  THE IMPERSONATION GAME

Lavie Tidhar  LIMELIGHT

Martin Edwards  THE CASE OF THE CROYDON CONSPIRATOR

Chuck Brownman  THE GREAT CANE ROBBERY

Mia Dalia  THE LOST REELS

Greg Mosse  THE KID

Andrew Hook  MODERN LOVE

Jake Arnott  TRAMP CLOWN

Stephen Gallagher  FATHER’S DAY OUT

Jan Edwards  DEATH AND TAXES

James Grady  THE ELEVATOR

Victoria Dowd  SILENT WORDS

Rhys Hughes  STILL LIFE

Xan Brooks  POOR DEVIL

Mike Ripley  SHOOTING THE GREAT DICTATOR

Josh Pachter  THE PROFESSOR AND THE THIEF CATCHER

Ana Teresa Pereira  PAY THE PIPER

Nick Mamatas  CHAPLIN/NIXON

Maxim Jakubowski  THE CASE OF THE FREAK AND THE LOCKED ROOM

Stephen Volk  WORLDWORLD

Colin Bateman  KILLING CHAPLIN

 

I don't know much else about this new anthology excepting what's been reported here. But heck, you heard it here first!

 

 

Further reading... Charyn's 2018 non-fiction collection, In the Shadow of King Saul: Essays on Silence and Song, includes his early essay "Mr. Feathers," which touches upon Brooks and her enduring legacy as a cultural icon.lso, Brooks is prominently included in Charyn's 2003 book, Gangsters and Gold Diggers: Old New York, the Jazz Age, and the Birth of Broadway. In fact, she is a central figure in the book, and Charyn actually dedicated the book to her as one of three figures in a "bestiary".

 

Want to learn about other writers and artists who have paid homage to Louise Brooks? Be sure and check out the Homage to Lulu (Homage to Louise Brooks) page on the Louise Brooks Society website.

 

And to learn more about Brooks relationship with Chaplin, be sure to check out another Louise Brooks Society page, Louise Brooks and Charlie Chaplin: Two Happy Summer Months.

 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.