Matthew Vollmer, author, professor, and collector of odd literary jags, has a new book coming out in October. It’s called Fakes, and the subtitle runs, “An Anthology of Pseudo-Interviews, Faux-Lectures, Quasi-Letters, ‘Found’ Texts and Other Fraudulent Artifacts.” He and David Shields co-edit the anthology, 40 short stories hidden beneath such guises as an unhappy letter to the parking department or a personal ad in the newspaper. Matthew also runs a Tumblr account, MIRRORHOUSE, which includes an ongoing “Compendium of Literary Artifacts, Both Actual and Fraudulent.” One intriguing hoax mentioned by Vollmer on his site involves “The Amber Witch,” a 1841 book claiming to be an instructional manual for avoiding malevolent magic.

Vollmer’s “Keeper of the Flame” appears in the current issue (NER 33.1), and has been selected as a top read by longreads.com.