PUSHING OUT THE BOAT 13 - launched

I love reading. I love reading out loud and to an audience. It’s a thrill. And to be reading something of one’s own is an especial thrill. I do it any chance I get. So, on Sunday 26^th April, I attended the launch event for ‘Pushing Out The Boat 13’, a literary magazine from the North East, and I got to read from a story in the new edition of the magazine, a story that was mine.

I have been to ‘Pushing Out The Boat’ launches before. They are very civilized events with wine and nibbles and very good company. The venue this time was The Phoenix Hall at Newton Dee on the edge of Aberdeen – and it was splendid and splendidly situated. It was a bit of a drive up and back for me, but I think a writer has an obligation to support such ventures if they can.

I have said before what a fabulous production this magazine is. It is a magazine of poetry and short fiction and art. The art is always beautiful and gives the magazine a very ‘lush’ feel. What I also like is the respect given to individual pieces of writing, the space and the presentation adds to the beauty of the production. No cramming pieces in just to maximise sales.

Artworks were displayed in the entrance area on arrival at the venue. 

Each reader was given a timeslot and strict instructions to stay within a certain limit – a little more time for prose readers than for the poets. There was an excellent turnout and a lot of writers had agreed to read – hence the strict time limit. Some of the readings were lively and the audience laughed; some were intense and thought-provoking, and the audience were thoughtful and quiet; and some were just beautiful – and the audience seemed to appreciate that.

Congratulations to all the writers at the event and all the writers who made it into the print magazine. 

I got to read the opening of my short story ‘Sixteen Years an Asylum Nurse’ and I loved reading it. When reading my own work, it always feels new and like it is not me. And I see the flaws as well as the bits that sing. I sometimes think I should do public readings of all my writing in order to tighten the writing. The story seemed to go down well.

Anyway, a big thank you to the whole team at ‘Pushing Out the Boat’, and thanks for a great launch day and for some wonderful readings, and for including once again a piece of my writing in the magazine. 

One piece stays with me, and that is the quirky piece where a seagull is taken for the soul of a person recently deceased and the seagull becomes a presence in a friend-of-the-deceased's home. Nicely read by Keava McMillan.