Literature

Echo the sound of silence

General Geekiness

So I’ve left She Thinks Too Much quiet again. A pity, really, but there have been some fun, exciting things brewing here.

Firstly, Far Off Places Issue II is underproduction and in my care! I’m again doing the layout (and some illustration, which is also part of a project a friend and I are working on). I’ll do a preview of my illustration when the ‘zine goes live. Also, if anyone is interested in reviewing it, email submissions[at]faroffplaces.org and I’ll send you the promo link.

Secondly, I started another blog! It’s called She Dresses. It’s a style blog for those transitioning from student life into the workplace (such as for internships, etc) and it will be updated at least once a week. There are only two posts at the moment, but I’ve got plenty to write about.

The Far Off Places hot air balloon takes off!

American Adventures, Edinburgh Expeditions

Far Off Places, the literary magazine I cofounded with three friends from Edinburgh, launched on 9 March at the StAnza Poetry Festival in St Andrews, Scotland.

We’re currently selling single issues and subscriptions on our website. They’re digital copies, and coming soon, an iOS subscription as well (and we’re hoping to release a Kindle ebook version, starting with issue 2).

We hope to release a printed edition and pay our contributors! So that’s why we’re selling it.

Not content to take a break after our launch (or, more accurately, DURING production of issue 1), we opened submissions for our second issue, with the theme of the back of beyond. Submissions are due on 31 March!

Poetry should be no more than 40 lines (though we do accept short poetry as well), and short prose of 1,200 words. No serial novels/stories, etc, as the theme changes with each issue.

I did the graphic design/layout for the magazine! Like making our spiffy hot air balloon logo.

faroffplaces_logo

2012: The Year of the Graphic Novel

What's On the Bookshelf?

In looking back at the books I’ve read this year, they’ve been dominated by a genre.

Graphic novels.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me well. I’ve always enjoyed a graphic novel or comic between the massive classic tome, but this year I found myself reading graphic novels almost exclusively.

It’s been awesome.

I started this summer, reading Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Art Spiegelman’s Maus. This trend continued through the autumn, where I read some fantastic books like Craig Thompson’s Blankets and Grant Morrison’s dystopian epic The Invisibles.

Wow.

The thing I love about graphic novels is the art works so well with the story, especially in books like Maus and Blankets. The books have additional levels to them, and being a bookworm and art fanatic like myself, they are wonderful.

The stories are helped by the art, rather than hindered, making them more poignant and memorable. And I love them for it.

I can’t wait to start up my own graphic novel library. I’ve decided it will have Blankets, Maus and The Invisibles to start. What else?

Far Off Places

Edinburgh Expeditions

What happens when you combine four friends, sunshine and rain on Charlotte Square, and poetry quaffed like wine?

Clearly, you found a literary magazine.

After much debate and deliberation over names, mission and what sort of magazine we would found, we launched the website last week, opened our email to submissions, and wait for them to come pouring in. We’ve had several so far, which we are ecstatic about!

Far Off Places is the name of our whimsical collection of writing and illustrations, which we’re hoping to launch in March (provided that we have enough submissions). The theme of our first issue is Fairy Tales Retold.

Curious? Check out our website or leave a comment!

I’m very excited. I’m head of social media and art director, so that means I’m laying out the magazine as well as maintaining the Facebook page and Twitter account. The Facebook page is a little dull at the moment, but I’m going to be updating it more frequently soon.

Poetry in the Park

Edinburgh Expeditions

This weekend, a group of my friends and I celebrated May Day a little late. Being of a literary mindset, we decided to hold a late-night picnic complete with good company, decent-to-good wine, and good poetry.

It was a laid-back affair, a gathering of just under twenty crazy cats bundled up against the cold May night. We had stacks of poetry books and an iPad, letting us flip through and find just the right poem for our moods. The poems read were insanely varied, from Tim Burton’s “Match Boy and Stick Girl in Love” to Shakespeare’s “Sonnet No. 2” to Dante Alighieri’s “Tanto gentile e tanto nostre pare” to dirty limericks recited when the mood got too serious. We laughed, we chatted, we decided that “The Jabberwocky” was really written by Robert Burns.

The poetry reading was a success. We sat out in the cold for four hours, leaving just before midnight, carrying the tea lights that had lit our circle as lanterns as we wandered back into the Edinburgh night.

Sponataneous Edinburgh Art

Edinburgh Expeditions

Whilst walking to the Central Library today, I spotted this mural…who is it of? Where did it come from?

Mural

Who is this kid?

I’ve also spotted a number of quotes around the city, all from the Scottish Play…

Double Double Toil and Trouble

In front of St Giles Cathedral

When shall we three meet again?

In St Andrew Square

The quotes are for an exhibit called “Beyond Macbeth” that’s at the National Library. I guess I know where I’m headed to this week!