MODAL TEXTUALITIES

by NICHOLAS SYRIANUS KATSAFANAS
ABOUT | ARCHIVE | SUBSTACK

Consonance + Assonance = [Echoes]
[Echoes] / Syllables = Self-Similarity
Self-Similarity Threshold (i.e. >.75) = Modal Text

Hi, I'm Nick, and Modal Textualities is leveraging literary analysis of Big Pun's rhyme schemes to create modal texts with the finest self-similarity ratios and most precise syllable placement in American Letters.

The short essay "Self Similarity in the Extended Line (w/ Reference to Big Pun)" expands on the idea of a modal meter.

An archive of PDFs can be found here. If you prefer to read via email there's a Substack.

I live on the Southside of Providence RI USA w/ my wife Tree and my impending son Nikolaos Enrique (Iglesias) Katsafanas.

Prior to going Modal Textual, I spent my teen years rapping in an avant-garde rap group (inSTEREOtype) and spearheaded a tanka poem screamo band called The Massachusetts Dept of Revenue.

Feel free to send me an email at 2gyroz [at] gmail or connect w/ me on Instagram.

Below is my most recent work. Thank you.

RECENT WORK

PATRIOTISM RUNS COUNTER TO ORDINARY HUMAN MORALITY

This modal text is my official autobiography. Everything in this work is 100% accurate and basically reflects my exact experiences as a human being living on this circular planet we call “Earth.” At this time I’m unsure if Ben Shapiro has received eyebrow fillers or not. I’m not going to speculate on that right now. This isn’t the place for that. I used to get my eyebrows threaded fairly regularly and I feel like they actually reduced the girth of my brow over time. That’s all I can really say.

1st Edition Released: 03/13/26 | Mode: >.75 | Syllabic Self-Similarity: 7565:8896 .850 | 111 pp. (Arial 10pt Font)

THE WORLD DIVIDES INTO FACTS

Reimi and Buddy share what can only be deemed God-given honest opinions that they have every right to express on their trip to East Asia. Then Reimi and her sister Nikke take in an anonymous French Mannerist's painting. Finally, Reimi shares with Buddy a particularly noteworthy month-long dip into insanity her sister Nikke recently endured.

1st Edition Released: 12/24/25 | Mode: >.75 | Syllabic Self-Similarity: 12,393:15,330 .808 | 139 pp.(Arial 10pt Font)

Saddle Stitched Pamphlet from Blue Velvet Review ($9.95)

Audio Excerpts
I.I to "West Wing politicians"
I.I to "reintroduction to fascism"

KOREATOWN BOK CHOY

Jo Yu-Ri hires this well-endowed Greek demigod named Priapus to help cultivate her bok choy in Midtown Manhattan, but he's kind of promiscuous? Is that an issue? Or do her and her friend Araqi fundamentally misunderstand the nature of numbers?

1st Edition Released: 10/15/25 | Mode: >.75 | Syllabic Self-Similarity: 11,144:14,505 .768 | 122 pp.(Arial 10pt Font)