Declan Meade of The Stinging Fly describes the satisfaction of giving new writers a good start
Declan Meade
Declan Meade is the founding editor of The Stinging Fly, a literary magazine publishing poetry, short stories, reviews and creative non-fiction. Declan tells us how he chooses between the 500-plus stories and poems he receives during the open submission period between January 1st and March 1st each year.
What is the motivation behind The Stinging Fly?
The Stinging Fly was set up back in late 1997 to provide an outlet for new and emerging writers, and from day one we’ve had a particular interest in promoting the short story. Our first issue came out in March 1998. The magazine has changed quite a bit since then in terms of its physical appearance, the number of pages in each issue and the range of content, but the main objectives remain the same.
How did you become involved with the magazine?
I set it up with a friend. I was living in Dublin, doing some short-story writing of my own, meeting a lot of other aspiring writers, and hearing a lot of complaints about the dearth of opportunities for getting work published. My friend had done a publishing course and we really just decided to give it a go. She worked on the first two issues with me and then went on to have a life. I lacked the imagination for that.
What is your professional background?
I’m not sure I have one. After completing a degree in Business and German in Northern Ireland, I travelled around Europe for a while, worked with a homeless charity in Cork for a few months, and then lived in the States for almost a year, working in a large independent bookstore in Atlanta.
I moved back to Ireland in 1995 and got a job in the James Joyce Centre and worked there in a number of different roles until 2004. Since 2005 I’ve been able to work full-time on the magazine - initially because I left Dublin for a while and was able to live rent-free in a house belonging to one of my brothers.
Thankfully, in the last few years, we’ve received increased support from the Irish Arts Council, which has allowed me to move back to Dublin, rent an office and earn a wage from the magazine.
How do you think The Stinging Fly differs from other literary magazines?
I’m not really best placed to answer that. The driving force for me is to make it the best magazine that it can be - but I’m sure all magazine editors aspire to that.
We do take our commitment to publishing new writers very seriously, but I also believe that each issue of the magazine should offer an interesting and enlivening experience for the reader. So we are as much reader-focused as writer-focused.
What do you look for in a submission?
I approach submissions first and foremost as a reader. I love to read - it’s always been a hugely important part of my life. So when I’m reading a submission, I suppose I’m hoping to be allowed to forget for a while that I am a mean, nasty editor.
If the work satisfies me as a reader, I tend to want to put it in the magazine so other people can share in that experience. I think as well that every piece of writing has to be judged on its own merits - I’ve learned that there are no hard and fast rules.
Do you write poetry or short stories yourself?
I’ve not written very much since 2004. That’s mainly because I’ve been working full-time on both the magazine and the publishing imprint (we set up the Stinging Fly Press in 2005) since then, and that work has taken up all my creative energy.
What do you find the most challenging aspects of editing The Stinging Fly?
The single most challenging aspect is getting the work done. Multi-tasking is required all the time and (being a man) I’m not sure that it comes naturally to me.
What do you enjoy most about it?
I enjoy the challenges, too, of course. To a large extent, I stumbled into doing this without any great plan-I’ve learned a lot and I continue to learn.
New writers are always coming along and there’s great satisfaction in giving them a start, and also in building up a relationship with different writers over time.
Whose writing do you admire?
With the little experience I have of writing myself, I can appreciate how difficult it is to get it right. The writers I most admire are the ones who somehow manage to make this look easy.
I admire different writers for different reasons at different times so I’m reluctant to name any names here.
What inspires you?
I’m inspired most of all by people who keep going in spite of the odds. In the case of writers, I think the good ones realise early on that the writing life requires a life-long commitment and that it’s a case of buckling down to the work and getting on with it.
The sustained commitment and output of writers like Alice Munro, Edna O’Brien, Philip Roth and William Trevor is very inspiring.
What advice would you offer an aspiring writer?
Stop aspiring, get writing, make it the best you can make it and stick at it.
What comes next for The Stinging Fly?
Well, there’s always the next issue to get on with and we’ll have a whole new pile of submissions to read come next January. On the funding front, the fact that the Irish economy has recently been in free fall means that there are going to be cuts across the board next year.
We’ll not know how we’re going to fare until January. In the meantime, I suppose I just have to follow my own advice and get on with it.
For more please visit www.stingingfly.org
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