The magazine opens with aplomb with Nathan Graziano’s quietly hilarious, ‘Bless Me Father,’ in which a staunch Catholic’s wife finds a novel way to get him over his guilt-ridden fear of anal sex. Catholicism is also a theme in Frank Adam’s ‘Merry Christmas, Mr Hatcher’ in which a man visits his brother and his wife who have become part of an extreme hermitic religious cult, abstain from everything and worship a hedgehog loving idol called St Basil, who:

“..continuously tormented by demons, would thrash himself using birch leaves and twigs bound with twine, stand naked in the sea in wintertime and in extreme cases when his offending private parts refused to listen to reason, roasted his chestnuts over an open fire.”

The writing style (told in the form of a letter to a friend) perhaps takes away the immediacy but it’s an amusingly bawdy gothic romp none-the-less.

Brie Parker’s ‘Right Here, Right Now’ is a paean to Open Wide magazine itself, expressing what makes the magazine and the passion of those involved in small presses/magazines so important. What could have been a strange concept, in essence, including a fan letter about the magazine itself, is defused by the sincerity of Brie’s piece. It almost works better than a later statement about the ethos of Feel Free Press which in comparison, seemed slightly pompous.

Robert Bazzo’s ‘Writings on the Wall’ charts a night in the life of 3 old school-friends, trying to capture the glory of their teens on a boy’s night out at a topless bar. Bazzo’s narrative breathes and glows, drawing strong images and impressions out of even the minor players.

“She offered them a smile that was as transparent as grandma’s old underwear.”

“Her question drew him away from her surgically enhanced breasts and back into reality (no pun intended.)”

The resentment simmering between the 3 men is underplayed well and gives the story a good underlying tension. The twist comes completely by surprise and is deftly rendered with a knowing wink. Look forward to reading more from this writer.

A great selection of poetry too, from one of my favourite poets, Bradley Mason Hamlin, and Spanish poet, Pablo Garcia Casado’s poems, ‘Former Tenants’ and ‘Garner, nc’ which are positively chilling, as is the frenetic, intense whirlwind of desparation that is M.A. Internicola’s ‘To Never Reach for the Sky.’ Also felt a worrying empathy with Casey Rearick’s ‘Standing Under the Sun’:

“Tossing about in bed
dreaming of planets
inhabited by garbage men
who only speak a language
understood by flies.”

W.P. Swindon’s ‘Diary of an Artist’ is a gloriously bitter and sarcastic kick in the balls at the cliquiness of small presses and online publishing, which neatly sums up the ethos of why Open Wide itself is back in print and what it hopes to achieve.

Douglas Cooper’s ‘Secrets’ is a hilarious and lewdly engaging tale about one man’s love affair with pornography. The narrator’s earthy awe and enthusiasm for the porn is strangely refreshing and makes you laugh out loud, particularly here, after regaling the reader with all manner of porn he enjoys:

“It depends on my mood of course, but I generally go with the freakiest shit I can find. The worst ever I saw was Hairy Women #1, that was sick!”

“Bushes you could hide a midget inside...”

...was also particularly evocative! And the story just gets better. It’s naughty but glorious and an utterly enticing slice of life.

The magazine also includes a sixty second interview with publisher, Bill Roberts, whose beautifully produced volume #2 of Bottle of Smoke magazine I will be reviewing here soon. I also found much to like in the poetry of Trevino Brings Plenty, particularly the pleasure over adversity of ‘On Top of the World’ and the gloriously bitter ‘Details’ and ‘Friends, Lovers’ which includes the killer lines:

“I let the cigarette burn to my fingers
to feel what it’s like
when a friend fucks my girlfriend.”

The magazine is perfectly concluded with editor, James Quinton’s blindingly accurate takes on the evil that is work in ‘Fresh Faced and Keen’ and ‘I Woke up Early the Day I Died.’

Would have liked some contributor biogs, but then I’m just nosy (and they are included on the Open Wide website (see link on the left.) An enviably strong selection of writing with a pleasurable variation in tone, viewpoint, geographical location, length and style with some great new writers to look out for in the future. Look forward to the new issue in October.

Laura Hird is the Orange and Whitbread nominated author of the collection, ‘Nail and Other Stories’ and novel, ‘Born Free.’ Her short stories have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies internationally. Her new collection of short stories is due to be published by Canongate Books in May 2005. She runs and edits her own loosely arts-related website on which she seeks out and publishes new poetry, short stories, reviews, interviews etc. She was born and lives in Edinburgh.