Like people, magazines are constantly being born somewhere in the world, while others die. A number of the magazines in this roundup are fairly new publications. Others have been around a little longer. Offering prose, poetry, or both, they range from the entry level magazine to those for more experienced or skilled writers.

BONFIRE is an exciting new magazine with glossy production values and first class prose and poetry. Published by Fandango Virtual, who are also responsible for the GATOR SPRINGS GAZETTE, BONFIRE features writers from the UK and North America, and a beautiful cover illustration from MR Manohar. There are so many stand outs in this journal that it’s hard to single out anyone in particular. Kay Sexton’s ‘Funeral Games,’ Tom Saunder’s ‘Roof Whirlaway,’ the poetry of Alison Brackenbury, Jai Clare’s ‘Glass in a Field of Green’ are all extremely well written. In fact, the quality of work in this magazine cannot be overstated. DB Cox, Beverly Jackson, GW Cox, Bob Arter and others appear too, plus a ‘Poetry with Commentary’ feature where Gabriel Orgrease, explains the thinking behind his accompanying poem. If there was a prize for best new writing magazine, BONFIRE would win hands down.

Another interesting newcomer is THE ORPHAN LEAF REVIEW, edited by James Paul Wallis. The premise behind this publication is summarised on the back of Issue One: “orphan leaf n. a single page apparently torn from a book. The page exists, the rest of the book may not. Read to the end of the page. Let your imagination do the rest.” The actual physical format of the magazine is A5, with the loose leaves stapled together. The paper of each page is of a different weight, texture, size and colour. Some leaves have more condensed print, while others have larger spaces between the lines. The contents vary from poetry, prose (fiction and non-fiction) and sheet music to photography. There is something mysterious about these apparent book fragments, and the thought that’s gone into the paper itself also marks the magazine out as one of the more original publications. In spite of the basic way in which THE ORPHAN LEAF REVIEW is put together, this is not an entry-level magazine. The writing in Issue One lives up to the editor’s intentions. Chrissy Williams, Shane Allison, and Jane Alexander are among those published.

Another relative newcomer is THE QUIET FEATHER. Three issues have appeared so far, although issue three was disappointingly smaller than the previous one. That aside, what makes this magazine interesting is the way it mixes prose, poetry and photography with travel/international non-fiction pieces. At least one of the editors appears to be a travel writer, and one of the more regular contributors to THE QUIET FEATHER is located in Italy. Issue Two and Three are very slim, but the combination of the usual ingredients with international non-fiction and travel writing really makes this a magazine to watch out for. A questionnaire sent out to subscribers at Xmas suggests the editors have plans to expand the magazine.

CUTTING TEETH is a Scottish magazine which has been around for a number of years in different formats. Production values are generally good. The current issue has an amusing prose piece by Damien Callis, called ‘A Quick Guide to Tasmania,’ and ‘A Wee Minding’ by Karen Campbell about two girls off on a holiday of shagging and boozing. There’s lots more fiction, often rooted in working class Scotland. But there’s other writing too, including a no-holds account of the realities of the mass culling of farm animals during the foot and mouth outbreak, and a longer story from Irish writer Valerie Sirr. Fiction and poetry are the staples of CUTTING TEETH. Poets include Andrew Dethridge.

VERSAL is an Amsterdam-based magazine. In spite of its claim to be an international collective, the fiction and poetry contents are rooted in North America. The visual art and photography, however, seems to be more international. Unfortunately, while writer biographies are included, artists biographies are not. The full page paintings, photographs and illustrations in VERSAL make it one of the more attractive magazines. As far as the writing goes, one of the best works in Issue Two is Larry Sawyer’s poem ‘The Miracle of Apples:’ “Someday the apples will be liberated, the pear / will start a revolution and the banana will / commit suicide, rather than be executed.” The poem continues on with its wonderful and fantastic politicised fruits. Anna Arov’s poem ‘You Are In The Country’ is also a standout. On the whole, the fiction in this particular issue is not so memorable, though ‘Ditsy Chicky’s Social Climax,’ a piece of non-fiction is certainly amusing. VERSAL is a magazine with high production values, and the page layouts give individual works room to breathe.

MAGMA is one of the UK’s best poetry magazines. The 10th anniversary issue, number 30, Winter 2004/2005, features Andrew Motion on poetry magazines, Don Paterson on Rilke, and poetry on the theme of mental health. There’s also new poems from the likes of Roddy Lumsden and Mario Petrucci. MAGMA really is a quality production, and one of its strengths is in the inclusion of insightful reviews of new poetry books, as well as interviews with poets and other poetry-related articles and prose.

THE NORTH too is a well-respected poetry magazine worth checking out. Like MAGMA, the magazine focuses on more modern poetry styles, and the work of many well-known UK poets has appeared in its pages. Again, the magazine has reviews, interviews, and other poetry-related features.

POETRY REVIEW, meanwhile, is the journal of the UK’s Poetry Society. Like the previous two magazines, it has a good review section, but there is something more formal and perhaps a bit stuffier at times about POETRY REVIEW. In a recent issue of the women’s writing magazine MSLEXIA, POETRY REVIEW put in a call for submissions, stating that 9 out of 10 submissions come from male poets. In some ways, this is not hard to understand. There’s something less welcoming about POETRY REVIEW. To say that it’s highbrow is to understate the intelligence of MAGMA and THE NORTH. The work in POETRY REVIEW can be more formal, but not in the sense of pushing sonnets, villanelles and other stricter poetic forms. It’s more that there’s an atmosphere of worthiness and weightiness about the magazine. The tenure of the current editorial team is coming to an end. It will be interesting to see what changes a different team will bring to POETRY REVIEW.

Of the current crop of magazines, the gold star has to go to BONFIRE, with MAGMA on top for poetry, closely followed by THE NORTH.

Kara Kellar Bell is a film and media graduate from the West of Scotland, with a passion for European novels, French films, silent cinema, and Brazilian music (everything from Daniela Mercury and other pop stars through to bossa nova). As a writer, she likes to have room to move around creatively, so she’s not located in one genre. She writes realism and also stories of a more fantastic nature, usually grounded to some extent in the real world. She also takes delight in writing across the sexual spectrum, and as a bisexual, considers it important to remind people that things are not always black and white, either/or, in sexuality or in gender. For a selection of Kara’s writing on the Showcase section of this site, click here

© 2005 Laura Hird All rights reserved.