Since way back in 2008, I have been editing, organising and creating a small New Zealand online poetry magazine - The Typewriter. It is an annual occurrence, coming out in the middle of the year (think, loosely, April – August) and has done so for the last five years, with the exception of a brief break last year while I was travelling.
It is largely aimed at new- mid-weight poets from the Australasian area. Originally just devoted to submissions from poets who hail from New Zealand, it has recently opened its doors to invite and welcome a wider group of poets (NZ, Australia, Pacific) submit their poetry for inclusion, and, hopefully, this will also have a knock-on effect and bring a broader audience to its pages.
As editor of the mag, I have been blown away, every year, at the talent that lands in The Typewriter‘s inbox, making organising each issue a difficult, but very rewarding task. I know conventional poetry magazines list their most prestigious authors as past contributors, in order to gain a bit of kudos and encourage others to submit, but all of The Typewriter‘s contributors are amazing, so go and check them all out! They are: Alex Walls, Caroline Cooper, Chris Parsons, Claire Ahuriri, David Gregory, Desh Balasubramaniam, Fritz, Holly Larsen, Holly Painter, Jack Bradshaw, Laura Mckenzie, Lucy Telford, M.L. Finney, Matthew Wright, Peter Le Baige, Sarah Paterson, Sarah Scott, & Tourettes.
At the moment, I am calling for submissions for issue # iv, which looks to be published around the end of July/beginning of August, all things going well. It is about halfway through the submission period, with the call for submissions ending at the end of June/beginning of July. I am very excited as there are some truly inspired poems already accepted and shaping the new issue. We have a little ‘call out‘ on the NZ Poetry Society’s ‘Opportunities’ page, care of the lovely Laurice Gilbert, who is always very obliging and posts our submission call each year. However, I’d love even more poems for this issue, so if you haven’t indulged in our little mag yet, head on over to The Typewriter, check it out and consider submitting a poem or two for issue iv!
