A Farewell to Autofiction

Ren Duka is a fictional writer and the narrator of the fictional Ren Duka novels, an autofictive cycle recounting Duka’s adventures in, among other locales, the Islamic State caliphate, the Führerbunker, the Dublin literary scene, and communist China. Henry K Dillon is Duka’s fictional creation, a taxi driver and former writer, who cruises the streets of Dublin, dreaming of phantom lovers and pondering the creative act. (Parisian tour guide and shagger “Dirty Philippe” is another of Duka’s fictional creations.) Duka himself is the creation of “the author”, an anonymous writer based in Ireland. Dina Tatangelo is a fan of the Duka cycle, and the author of her own autofictive series about Zoe Zabarino, lover of heroin and occasional necrophiliac. Tommy Rhys Cunningham is the actor who played Ren Duka in the first three film adaptations, and who has been left a broken man after his life was destroyed by #MeToo allegations.