“The world opened before her. Not the world she had been reared in—where Home had covered all the map, almost, and the rest had been ‘foreign,’ or ‘unexplored country,’ but the world as it was—man’s world, as made, lived in, and seen, by men.” Mollie Mathewson was a true woman. Little, of course. Pretty, of course. A loving wife and mother and possessing the "social gift.  And all she wished for was to be A MAN. And suddenly she was. And she saw the word as it was. And learned what men really thought of women. And felt how it was to be seen and heard. And how it felt to have your own money. And how it felt to have pockets to use, not just mend. How much of this world are we still living in? "If I were a man", written in 1914 by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Narrated by Naya Nomikou in 2026. Listen here   If I were a Man

 Alice is a sharp girl with good instincts who's perceptive about people.  But none of this helps.  The birthday party takes place and the game Destiny is played.  Funny and dumb all night until it gets to him.  And what it shows shuts everyone up. Completely.  Because "they had seen it all. And that was why none of them spoke anymore." An impressive piece of flash fiction written by a Master of the kind. Stephen Sinclair lulls us into into the story and leaves us chilled and unsettled.  Listen to the story, read by me, by clicking the link below: https://youtu.be/qWz8jZaDsts

When you're in college and you've got essays to write, better do it SOBER!  LISTEN to Stephen Sinclair's poem, read by me here:  ESSAYS

Hello! I've recorded a beautiful and fun story for this Christmas.  "A Christmas Accident", written by Annie Eliot Trumbull and published in 1900 in the collection "A Christmas Accident and Other Stories" which you can find in project Gutenberg ( https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/28307/pg28307-images.html ). So, the Biltons and the Giltons. Side by side they lived - divided by a fence, a courtroom battle, and years of hurt. One Christmas accident, though, altered both families forever… maybe. After all, if Christmas spirit survived the summer, this world would be a very different kind of place... You can listen to the story here: https://youtu.be/4wZmticnXbw?si=Z6zS9pVLr-Kjqicd If you like the story why not share it with your friends, leave a comment or just press the like button!  You can also subscribe on my YouTube channel. It's free and you'll be notified whenever i upload new content. 

"The Chromatic Ghosts of Thomas” by Ellis Parker Butler, is one of the funniest stories I've ever had the pleasure to read and narrate. A short humorous fantasy, where we meet the extremely sensitive cat called Thomas. And his ghosts... Listen to the story here:  The Chromatic Ghosts of Thomas If you like my work why not leave a comment, a like, or share it with friends and family that might enjoy it!

"Tomorrow - Tomorrow" is a short story, written by Ivan Turgenev in May 1879..  From the collection "Dream Tales and Prose Poems".  I narrated this story and you can listen to it here:  Tomorrow Tomorrow A dense philosophical passage with strong existential themes. Excerpt: "And yet it is man’s wish to exist; he prizes life, he rests hopes on it, on himself, on the future.... Oh, what blessings he looks for from the future! But why does he imagine that other coming days will not be like this day he has just lived through?"  Please support my work...  Like and share my videos. Leave a comment.  Subscribe on my YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@nayanomikou?si=tang7rS_ma1unEiI

"Giovanna Draws" by Nicholas Leonard is a contemporary love story, but not the kind one is expecting. It's about Patrick, a man walking alone around Lake Quannapowitt in Massachusetts, who meets Giovanna, an art student from Brazil, who needs to capture human vulnerability for her school project. She asks him to be her subject. He agrees. What unfolds is an achingly beautiful exploration of longing and brief connection. "I am your angel. Look up at me, Patrick. I'm your angel." It is not a story about happy endings.  It's a story about things that define us and stay with us forever.  It's a story that makes us think of our own brief angels.  Watch here:  Giovanna Draws by Nicholas Leonard If you want to support my work leave a like, comment or share the video with someone who might need to listen to it.  You can also subscribe to my channel and get notified about every new video I upload.

 The accompanying piece of Stephen Sinclair's poem "This Day" is now on YouTube. You can listen to it on my channel. It's about  James IV of Scotland and his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. But it's not just that. It's history lesson condense and felt.

 A journey from shattered despair to defiant resilience.  A messege echoing across centuries "This Day", a narrative poem by Stephen Sinclair. Listen to my recitation on YouTube  This Day, a poem by Stephen Sinclair If you like my work you can support me by subscribing to my channel, leaving a comment or by sharing my videos!

"Some said that Ferguson gave up sailoring because he was tired of the sea. Some said that it was because he loved a woman. In truth it was because..." Thus starts"The Auction" a story by Stephen Crane.  It tells us how shame can wound deeper than loss. The fear of being seen failing... As contemporary writer Stephen Sinclair notes, "Crane puts tragedy and the ridiculous funny on a razor's edge". 🎙️ Narrated by me 🔗 Full story on YouTube:  Listen here

A country house. A group of strangers. A boy who cries, “Father, I’m frightened.” When I recorded this one… I could feel it.Not just in my voice, in my whole body. Listen to  The End of the World  voiced by me, from my little home studio, wheelchair and all.

 🚨 New Story Alert! 🚨 MRS KEEPER by Stephen Sinclair. Narrated by yours truly. A forgotten woman. A legendary secret. The full audio story now on my YouTube channel.

 Just published this week's narration - "The Dream-Mold Wishing Well" by Nicholas Leonard. The story starts simple: old guy (Mr. Losefast) hires teenager (Vigo) to stack his wood. But, kid keeps falling asleep and having vivid dreams about a mysterious woman by the old well. Why does he have those detailed visions? What happens when Mr. Losefast loses consciousness right beside that same well? Listen to the story! Support me by subscribing to my channel, leaving a comment or by sharing my videos!

 Last week's recording is a cautionary tale with political messaging. The moral lesson is subtle: be careful what you wish for, and perhaps appreciate moderate leadership. Listen here:  Now, there is a shorter version to this fable that i enjoyed much. That one collapses the story to its essential elements and adds an explicit conclusion: "DON'T HAVE KINGS." Listen here:  Which one do you prefer? Let me know in the comments on YouTube!

This week’s narration was intense — battle scenes, mythic echoes, and the pressure of getting the right rhythm in historical fiction. The Lion at the Turn of the Tide (by Stephen Sinclair) took me out of the everyday and into a place where history and horror blur. Listen to this exceptional story here:  the lion of the turn of the tide You can support me by subscribing to my channel, leaving a comment or by sharing my videos!

“Brooklynn and the Storm” is the rain-kissed tale of Luke, a quiet high schooler with a poetic soul and a thing for meteorology (!) —or more specifically, a storm that always seems to bring along a girl named Brooklynn. Listen here: https://youtu.be/aFmpG2dDIUs?feature=shared If you like my work support me by liking the video, leaving a comment or subscribing to my channel.  

Recently, I came across some poems by Nicholas Leonard on TikTok and was immediately struck by their honesty and depth. Nicholas is a writer from Massachusetts with whom I have the pleasure of collaborating on YouTube by narrating his stories. This post is written to share his work here — not just to give it space, but to celebrate it. There is a common denominator in the three poems, or better yet sonnets, I’m sharing —  the reclamation of authentic humanity against systemic dehumanization. Each poem exposes how institutions distort our innate magic, connection and legacy. But crucially - all three end with a unifying call to action, a redemptive defiance, a manifesto to live. But those are just my thoughts. See what you make of them. Nicholas Leonard’s Note: “I like writing short stories and novels, but there’s something about writing sonnets that feels magical. It gives me that feeling I’d used to get in church when I was a little child, the feeling where...

 Here's a piece from my latest narrated horror story. Full version is on my YouTube . Wandering Oscar , a horror story written by Stephen Sinclair is a gothic fantasy drama about immortality, guilt, and redemption.  Set across five centuries and rooted in the mist-laden fens of England, WANDERING OSCAR follows Lord Henry De Quarterly , a brilliant but arrogant Elizabethan nobleman who defies death through a forbidden ritual — and pays a terrible price. 

 "The Madman"  is a fascinating and deeply ironic poem by Georgios Souris from 1888.  Souris  begins by describing the "Madman" (a British visitor) weeping at the sight of the Parthenon's missing marbles  (the artifacts removed by Lord Elgin   in the early 19th century and shipped to Britain , and now held in the British Museum  in London)   and then writing to Queen Victoria to return them to Greece. This action of the Madman  represents Western romanticization of Greek antiquity. Souris mocks this performative grief, highlighting its irrelevance to contemporary Greeks. The madman’s unsolicited letter - "Who told this fool to write about the marbles?"  -  to Queen Victoria underscores foreign interference.  But Souris' pen doesn't stop there. While critisizing the British, he also cauterizes the Greek apathy and indifference - " we do not care at all, no one has asked anything of him, no one want...

Hello and welcome to another "analysis" of a Nicholas Leonard's story! This one is called "Kittens Exist"  and the word analysis is put into quotation marks cause I'm no literary expert. This post here is just my way of sharing my impressions and my thoughts on the story. So, "Kitten's Exist" is about a man called Matthew, who reluctantly goes to therapy after his mother's strong request. Why he goes there? Because he "had recently got back from a place that was taxing his soul" and his mental health had "insufficient funds to pay its taxes". What a description, right? Anyway, when he walks into the therapist's office what he finds there surprises him, cause he doesn't find a human but a kitten! And the kitten cures him. That's not the end of the story though, as Matthew returns in a week, only to find a human woman claiming to be his actual therapist. Things progress from there...