The Business

Magazines

The Three Major Magazines in Wales

In terms of output and prestige, not to mention production values, Wales is dominated by the three major journals, Poetry Wales, New Welsh Review and Planet.

New Welsh Review

New Welsh Review [www.newwelshreview.com] is Wales’s leading literary quarterly and publishes the highest quality short fiction and poetry, alongside reviews of current titles of Welsh interest and penetrating – sometimes provocative - literary criticism. It also keeps a close eye on the visual and performing arts, too. Francesca Rhydderch, editor until 2008, led the magazine into dynamic, modern and international territory, including many voices from the wider UK and beyond. New Welsh Review remains particularly supportive of new writers of distinction and promise. The magazine is currently edited by Kathryn Gray.

Poetry Wales

Poetry Wales [www.seren-books.com/poetry-wales] is a quarterly poetry journal, incorporating original poems, features and reviews of notable poetry publications from Wales and beyond. Many of the most critically acclaimed poets in Wales, most recently those such as Owen Sheers and Samantha Wynne Rhydderch, found their first publication in Poetry Wales. A decade with distinguished poet and essayist Robert Minhinnick at the helm did much to promote a cosmopolitan perspective and eclectic material, with highly respected poets from all over the UK making regular appearances. Zoe Skoulding became editor in 2008. If you’re a poet in Wales or outside of it, Poetry Wales is a place to be seen in - and it’s certainly invaluable to subscribe to it.

Planet: The Welsh Internationalist

Planet [www.planetmagazine.org.uk] offers a broad mix of poetry, fiction, reviews, political opinion and comment, as well as focus on the visual arts. As its name would suggest, editorial policy is perhaps best characterised by a rooted cosmopolitanism. Many of Wales’s most respected writers, such as Christopher Meredith and Patrick McGuinness, continue to make regular appearances in the magazine, alongside the likes of Les Murray and Anne Stevenson. Planet also publishes less familiar names of demonstrable talent and originality. Planet is currently edited by Helle Michelsen.

All three of Wales’s leading journals maintain a strong commitment to supporting and nurturing new talent and to providing them with a platform. New writers should therefore not be reticent about contributing to them once they have given over some time to developing their work [link to 3.Ways to Get Started]. But do remember that all three magazines will be looking for evidence that potential contributors are engaged with contemporary literature both in Wales and beyond, and, equally, engaged with the publication and its output and tone. On a practical note, please do be aware that limitations on space mean that very long poems or short stories which approach novellas generally stand little chance of being included. For more information on how to maximize your success when submitting work to magazines for publication click here [link to How to submit your work: magazines]

Small Magazines: Poetry and Fiction

Many leading poets and fiction writers first cut their teeth on the small magazine, nonetheless small magazines have always had a relatively short shelf life and even those that have lasted the game continue to face a precarious future. They are almost always a labour of love. They exist solely because of the goodwill and engagement of those who choose – against all business sense and the advice of their family and friends – to publish and edit them. They are characterised by low visibility and, for the most part, lack of subsidy. They have, occasionally, very modest funds or, more commonly, none at all available for even the most rudimentary marketing. And they appeal, of course, to a specialist audience. The odds are stacked against them from the very start. Yet if every potential contributor to the small magazine actually went out and bought a copy, or, better still, subscribed, their outlook would be much brighter and their position sustainable. The truth is that many writers fail to fully appreciate their own role in actively keeping outlets for themselves and their work open. The small magazine depends on its contributors to be its audience, too. Without a paying audience, they fold. And another avenue for a new writer becomes a cul-de-sac. The golden rule for any new writer seeking publication and an audience is plain and simple: if you want to be in it and to be read by others, make sure that you actually buy it.

Despite the financial difficulties facing the scene, it is one characterised nonetheless by reanimation. When one magazine dies, another is just as surely is born. The small magazines – which play a key role in fostering new talent and providing it with a crucial early platform – are still out there. The problem is how to find them. The potential reader will have to do their research.

Across the UK, the small magazine scene remains dominated by poetry. Arguably, this is linked to poetry’s marginal position in contemporary life and literature as a whole - and the disproportionate number of people who despite the hostile conditions still want to see their work in print. Book publication for the poet is difficult. The small magazine scene not only highlights emergent poets but also bridges the gap between writing and publication in a beleaguered commercial market. In Wales, three good smaller magazines for poetry are Roundyhouse (based in Swansea), Skald (based in Bangor and which publishes a heady mix of innovative and mainstream poetries, alongside fiction) and Envoi previously based in England but more recently making a new home in Gwynedd under Cinnamon Press editor chief Jan Fortune-Wood. But there are a plethora of magazines out there.

A comprehensive list of those smaller magazines based in Wales, together with their contact details, can be found on the Literature Wales website. Additionally, for those seeking information on poetry magazines throughout the UK, the Poetry Library based in London provides an invaluable online resource of up to date listings for magazines currently still open for business and seeking submissions in the UK and Ireland. Access is completely free. If you wish to have a copy of a printed list, then the Poetry Library will send you one for free, provided you send them an SAE.

For those wishing to see their short fiction in print, the avenues are, sadly, much more limited – both in Wales and throughout the wider UK. Short fiction, which could once be found in even the major lifestyle magazines, has all but disappeared from the magazine – and indeed the book – market. In Wales, Cambrensis was for many years one of the chief outlets for those publishing short fiction. It ceased publication in 2006. Dafydd ap Prys has sought to fill this void with Blue Tattoo which aims to publish new voices alongside more familiar names, such as Tristan Hughes and Anna Wigley. The magazine has recently secured funding. Many other smaller magazines in Wales do, however, publish short stories, and some magazines publish a mix of fiction and poetry. You can find them by browsing through the Literature Wales database of magazines, which provides contact details for magazines, details of their output and information on how to buy them or subscribe to them – frequently for very modest sums. Because of the limited visibility of the short story, the Story campaign has been set up specifically to promote this most valuable but commercially neglected of genres. It provides comprehensive listings for magazines both large and small which continue to publish quality short literary fiction. It also provides details of the annual BBC National Short Story Award and some very practical tips on how to improve your work and how to get published.

Webzines

As many magazines, both large and small, struggle for survival, and with the digital future now our present, there has been a significant increase in the amount of high quality literary web magazines or webzines available on the internet.

The Australia-based but internationally focussed Jacket  carries high quality reviews and poetry from around the world, and has both credibility and a great deal of class – as well as enjoying one of the widest audiences of all the literary webzines. Nthposition offers a wide range of poetry by new writers as well as the more established. Pomegranate is a magazine dedicated to publishing poetry and articles on poetry by writers under 30. The Argotist online publishes non-mainstream poetry and articles on poetics. Stride Magazine carries a mix of mainstream and innovative poetries, along with reviews. Latterly, Salt Publishing has set up Horizon Review for short fiction and poetry, edited by the poet and novelist Jane Holland. It promises to be a broad church.

You will find notable names on these sites, together with a great many promising youngbloods. The downside is that they usually do not pay. But then, most small magazines often don’t either (and if they do it’s a very nominal sum of around £5). Publishing in good webzines can up your visibility. They can tap discriminating audiences that in some cases quite literally span the globe - from Bangor to Bangkok. But as for the smaller webzines, the matter is less clear. Despite the theoretical potential of the web – access is global and unlimited – the truth is that to be found someone has to be looking for you. The web is vast. People need to know what they are looking for. As is often their fate in print, many smaller zines fail to make any real impact online or create any audience, and their presence on the web is fleeting. And a webzine without an audience is no different to a print magazine without an audience. Have a good look around the net for well produced webzines whose work you connect with. Trace offers a comprehensive list of online journals and literary magazines based both in the UK, the US (where many journals seem to especially thrive) and beyond.

Many writers still show reluctance to publish new work online in webzines. They still remain firmly attached to the printed word. They like the physical object of the magazine or journal. They still don’t regard the internet as ‘real publishing’. And then, writers do tend to like payment – they earn little enough from their art as it is. But for a serious new writer engagement with quality webzines is a smart idea. For writers of short fiction and poetry it will in all likelihood become increasingly imperative as more and more magazines and journals make the move towards an online identity. The future for the literary journal almost certainly lies on the web.