Pen Pusher Magazine review
Pen Pusher Magazine
This magazine is clearly created by lovers of words in every form. There’s a pleasant chattiness to the tone of the pages, and an inclusive feel lacking in many of its contemporaries.
Battling the financial challenges faced by every publication at the moment, Pen Pusher has taken the unique, and possibly genius, move of inviting readers to sponsor pages at a bargain price of £0.02 per page.
If you decide to take up this opportunity, you’ll have your name listed in the magazine, along with the sense of pride that comes with keeping with the magazine “where new writing finds its voice” afloat.
The tagline is slightly misleading, as the new writing presented between Pen Pusher’s pages has already found its voice. Instead the magazine provides a showcase of short stories, poetry, artwork, reviews and interviews with the likes of Simon Callow. The voices are confident and clear, with first-person narratives and short, snappy poems dominating the editor’s selection.
Issue 12 included a new Featured Writer section, unveiling the first chapter of an unpublished novel by award-winning writer Pia Chatterjee, whose short story My Stalker can be read in issue 10. We love the idea of publishing novel excerpts in this way, leaving us wanting more.
Issue 12 opens with a feature on the relationship between writers and coffee houses - a fabulous exploration of London, where the magazine is based. Reviews towards the rear of the magazine included a broad spectrum of books, from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar published in 1963 to Mark Edward’s Clearout Sale published in 2008. The decision over which novels and anthologies to include is unexplained and the reviewers unnamed, suggesting that these were the personal choices of the magazine’s editorial team.
We love the regular My Favourite Bookshop slot, for which readers are invited to submit up to 350 words describing their favourite quirky, independent book shop with plenty of character. Between that and the description of the coffee shops at the beginning of the magazine, we found ourselves ready to pack up our laptop and head out to experience them firsthand.
The one negative point of the magazine was that the contributors’ bios were published on separate page rather than with the work they’d written, which interrupted the flow more than we would have liked.
All in all though, it’s definitely a magazine worth submitting to, while its content is still so approachable and accessible.
For details on how to submit and subscribe, visit www.penpushermagazine.co.uk
To submit a review of a book, course, magazine or website, please email judy@EssentialWriters.com
Related posts:
- South Bank Poetry magazine review - a moment’s peace presented like a gift - South Bank Poetry is like a train journey, carrying us...
- Gemini Magazine review – compelling snapshots of disjointed lives - The March issue of Gemini Magazine has an overall air...
- First Edition review - Uncluttered stories imbued with wry mischief abound in First Edition,...
- Envoi magazine review - This slim volume is published by Cinnamon Press three times...
- Ambit Magazine review - With the tagline “The magazine that thinks it’s a book”...
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment