Call for Submissions at 'The Fiend: A Magazine of Poetry, Politics and Art'

Hi, all! Been a while, just wanted to post this call for submissions that Tony has already said he'll put this in the next newsletter (cheers Tony) and I'm also posting it here here. I hope very much you can contribute to our magazine. We are looking for original poetry, translations or critical prose on poetry/translations, book reviews, philosophy, art crit and articles/analysis of current events (along the lines of international politics and current affairs.

Best Andrew

----

I'm making slow progress on The Fiend and have taken some flak for putting the date for printing back repeatedly (have even lost some poems for this)BUT I refuse to put out a magazine that is in any way second rate.

At the moment the number of original poetry submissions is simply not enough to
warrant a magazine of poetry, politics and the arts, as billed. I'm also keen to uphold my stance that The Fiend shouldn't be funded by any governmental body, and this, for the most part, includes institutional bodies which, in turn, are government funded.

My reason for this is very simple, regardless of how much political moaning we do, and how many talented people submit insightful politically inclined poems we're off to a non-starter if our literary projects accept government funds while our ministers work diligently towards the arms manufacture and export trade (Israel being the most potent example right now... but anyone remember Indonesia?) It's worthwhile finding out what your local Arts Council representative feels about Britain's arms trade before you apply for local funding (particularly in those places which
manufacture arms).

As such, it requires no more than a revolution in magazine publishing in
the field of literature, AND all that in a time of global financial depression. Is this too much to ask ask? I don't think so. I think the poetry's out there, also. And I believe that Britain already has a culture of little magazines, and as long as these are supported by individuals who
agree with the magazine's aims then I do not see how we cannot bring back
a truly 'representative' poetry in the tradition of samizdat publications,
working locally AND globally (using the internet).

This is the tradition that The Fiend wants to work in, and for this it
needs support, both financially, for website upkeep/improvements and admin
costs (a paypal button for The Fiend will soon be functionable at www.openseasonpress.com), and in the form of poetry/crit submissions (my email is andrewodonnell@riseup.net).

There is currently a deadline of the end of July, which will allow me to add more critical material, reviews, and include new content from translators.

We also have been given a recent donation which allows us to pay contributors from here on in for Issue One. Rates are five pounds for each accepted poem and twenty to thirty pounds on accepted articles (depending on length). If people also want to send books/pdfs for review simply email me at the above address and, if necessary, I'll provide you with a
snail-mail ad. If you want to be added to the mail-out list for Issue One please also send an email with 'Mail-Out List' in the headline bar (note: copies of Issue One for institutions and contributors are free).

Also, a new section I'm just implementing will be something along the lines of "young poets on the classics/works of non-modern poetry" (I have one very good piece on this already). Are you a young poet (under 40) with a penchant for Pope? Chastisements for Chaucer?? etc. Any and all praise, analysis, critical work by younger poets on older works of poetry will be gratefully received.

We're also looking into using paper made to the exact same specifications as the first manufacturers in China did (as established by Chae Ryun in Lyoyang, Henan province). I'll keep you posted on that here.

For British poets (or poets writing in English who have been living in Britain for a decade or more) we are also pooling work to be translated into Korean and published throughout Korea for an anthology of new British poetry. Accepted submissions will also make you eligible for inclusion in this publication. There’ll be more news on this in the magazine.

I'm also taking this opportunity to thank contributors thus far and to apologise for delays to the publication of their work.

That said, keep on writing everyone!

Andrew O'Donnell
andrewodonnell@riseup.net
www.openseasonpress.com
www.myspace.com/ajodonnell