WB Arnaud writes literary fiction and creative nonfiction that explores the liminal spaces between reality and reverie. His work is characterized by lyrical prose, richly drawn characters, and a fascination with how the past echoes through the present.
Drawing inspiration from the literary traditions of Key West and the atmospheric allure of Belle Époque Paris, Arnaud's stories invite readers into worlds where the everyday brushes against the extraordinary. His narratives often center on objects—umbrellas, photographs, letters—that become vessels for memory, connection, and transformation.
His debut novella, Parapluie: A Fable, emerged from years of research into turn-of-the-century Paris and a deep love for magical realism's ability to illuminate emotional truths through metaphor and wonder. The work reflects Arnaud's belief that the most profound stories often reside in the smallest, most overlooked moments of human experience.
Arnaud is published by Old Shrimp Road Press, an independent literary publisher based in Key West, Florida.
Writing Philosophy
The best stories don't explain magic—they make you feel it in the weight of an umbrella handle, the scent of rain on cobblestones, the way light falls through a window at precisely the right moment.
Arnaud approaches fiction as an excavation of emotional truth rather than a construction of plot mechanics. His work seeks to capture the ineffable—those moments when time seems to pause, when the mundane reveals itself as miraculous, when we glimpse the threads that connect us across space and time.
He believes that literary fiction, at its best, operates on two levels simultaneously: the concrete specificity of place, character, and detail, and the resonant universality of human experience. This duality allows readers to lose themselves in a story while finding themselves within it.
The magical realism tradition provides Arnaud with a vocabulary for discussing the invisible forces that shape our lives—grief, hope, longing, connection—by making them tangible, visible, and strange. An enchanted umbrella can carry the weight of sorrow and joy more honestly than pages of exposition.
Literary Influences
Magical Realism
The tradition of García Márquez, Borges, and Murakami—where the supernatural emerges naturally from the everyday, revealing deeper truths about human experience.
Belle Époque Paris
The artistic ferment and social transformation of turn-of-the-century Paris, when modernity and tradition collided in streets both glittering and shadowed.
Key West Literature
The maritime mysticism and tropical melancholy of Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, and the island's long tradition of writers seeking refuge and revelation.
Object-Centered Narratives
Stories where objects become characters—Eduardo Galeano's Memory of Fire, Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces—revealing how things carry memory and meaning.
Stay Connected
Join the mailing list for updates on new releases, writing insights, and literary discoveries.
Get in Touch