Since the early 1990s, literary reflection as a component of the architectural discourse has disappeared into the background. In a favourable economic and political climate, those working within the Dutch world of architecture had plenty of other things to keep them occupied. The architectural vanguard in the Netherlands, now known as ‘SuperDutch’, scored successes without any cause for reflection. Now that the boom of the SuperDutch era is past its peak encounters between different artistic disciplines are once again being employed in a process of reciprocal exchange. Literature not only provides descriptions of a reality, but also opens up new perspectives. In this issue of OASE, areas discussed include the (auto-) biographical novel, in which highly personal descriptions and narratives challenge us to look at architecture in a different way and what literary reflection can represent for architectural practice.