Carillon Magazine

Life as an Editor is both demanding and a pleasure. When a writer responds to an acceptance saying, “Thank you - this is my first acceptance” or “”Being published gave me the confidence to...” then it makes me very delighted that we dared launch Carillon. Of course, there are the other letters... I wonder why some writers think that the world only exists to showcase their efforts!  

As editor, I try hard to spot the jewels no matter what the form or level of writing is. I am not going to become elitist or anti-elitist just to curry favour with writing “camps”. So keep sending it all in - I’ll give it a fair crack. I will try to support new writers as best I can. I don’t have time to provide critiques, but may occasionally give a brief one if I think it would be of  particular help to a new writer.

Carillon is not a “highbrow” magazine nor is it a “lowbrow” magazine, or a “middlebrow” magazine. We are as happy to include a beginner as we are to include a widely-mentioned “name”.  What we look for is good, promising, definitely ‘accessible’ and interesting work. Which means that the “standard” of writing varies, sometimes a lot; but we all have to start somewhere and, equally, we can all “progress” too far. There are  two things we are not keen on: One is clichéd, “yawn-yawn”,seen-it-all-before,” writing, but also -  very much -  equally, the kind of writing that begs the question of , “what the hell does this mean?” or even, as one young woman put it, “talking to his ego.”

The “inclusive” stance has made it difficult for the magazine because it  “falls between stools”: Some subscribers have stopped subscribing on account of “It’s over my head”, some because “the writing isn’t good enough”, and other because it has too many or too few poems/stories.

I wish the balance of poetry to prose submissions was a more equal. Short, well-written stories and articles are welcome but in short supply,  whilst I have to turn away a vast amount of poetry that I would publish if only space allowed. Sometimes, to keep the balance I do use stories that have merit but might not have survived submission competition. I have wondered about creating two magazines - ‘Carillon Stories’ and a ‘Carillon Poetry’ magazine (and might one day if  I thought I could cope with the doubled work)  but a lot of folk like the mag as it is.

My thanks to Carol Thistlethwaite (Lancashire) , Gloria Castillo-Moreno (London), Andy Wattie and Ann Hamblen (Both of Barnsley area) who have taken on the task of being a reviewer.  It’s a job I would decline even though I know I can do it. Rather like I invariable decline to be a judge (though I have been nailed down for a couple of times and don’t mind really!)

Graham