Coming Up…

Well its September again, the days are slowly getting shorter, and the morning mists are getting more impressive. September is looking like a busy month in the Foxtrot Uniform calendar. Here’s a look at the exciting dates coming up:

Firstly: On the 15th September submissions for 003 will close. So keep sending us your poetry, prose and art until then. A list of accepted pieces will be posted within the week after this closure.

17th September: Our Editor, Joshua Cialis, will be taking part in Margate festival’s Micro-Residencies programme. He will be observing the goings-on of the town from the BottleShop on Margate Highstreet between 12 and 5pm. Pop along and say hello, you might even be included in a poem.

22nd September: Poetry on the Sand Open Mic Night, as part of The Margate Festival, Joshua will be hosting a poetry open mic night on Margate Beach (Nayland Rock Shelter if the weather is wet). Come along at 5pm and share your poetry, or simply listen to some poetic genius in the space that inspired poets and artists such as T. S. Eliot and J. M. W. Turner.

Mid-October: Issue 003 will be on your shelves. We’re looking forward to being able to share some of the great poetry, prose and art that has been sent into us over the last few months. Pre-Order your copy by emailing: foxtrotuniformpoetry@gmail.com

 

If you have any events that you would like to share with us send them to foxtrotuniformpoetry@gmail.com. Similarly get in touch if you have got a new book out; we are looking to do a few reviews of new poetry books.

Publishing opportunity

This is just a reminder that if you would like to be considered for publication in the next issue of Foxtrot Uniform, you need to send us an email with some work. We are accepting poetry, prose and art.

We are looking for new and exciting ideas, forms and images for publication in our upcoming print magazine. We want to see your work!!

If you’d like your creativity published send it to us in the next 3 weeks. The email address is foxtrotuniformpoetry@gmail.com

Send us your Work

Hello Reader,

Did you know that we are open for submissions of poetry, prose and art. If selected your work will be published in 003 of Foxtrot Uniform. We want to see your new poems, short stories, essays, collages, sketches, or anything else you might’ve done. Foxtrot Uniform is a free space to express yourself. Our magazine is your magazine.

We already have some amazing submissions but we think there’s more to see! If you would like to have your work published, email foxtrotuniformpoetry@gmail.com and attach up to 5 pieces in a word document, along with your name and address. Every person that is published will receive a free copy of the magazine and their work will be immortalised in print alongside some other great creatives.

So what do we like to see?

Foxtrot Uniform is a free space for creatives to share their work. We like to see the unseen, the form bending, the formless, the political, the surreal, the beautiful, and the ugly; if your work is different and new we will probably like it…

So what are you waiting for, email us some poetry, prose, or art…

 

Foxtrot Uniform: 002

The magazine is at the printers and will be published and sent out on 17th May. Anyone who has pre-ordered a copy should receive their copy by the 19th.

If you would like to pre-order a copy the price is £2 and all you have to do is email us; we will then send you a secure link for payment. Postage is free for UK residents. However, overseas postage will have to be sent alongside the original price. seeing that we believe everyone should have the opportunity to access great writing, we have tried to keep the price down as much as possible for the sake of accessibility. Your £2 covers printing costs and postage.

We hope you will enjoy the issue and keep ordering copies…

Ginger Wine Poems – Experimental Writing

Words and Picture by Joshua Cialis

Todays article comes as part of our works in progress series. We are looking at how different poets work and how their poems develop. This article looks at Joshua Cialis’ most recent delve into Experimental Writing:

I am general a spontaneous poet. I generally write what comes to me when it comes to me; this is most often complete poems written in one sitting. My writing is often fieldwork in that most of my poems are written mostly out and about, on busses or trains, walking around town, in coffee shops, or bars. However, I tried experimental writing over the weekend while stuck at home. I had been with some friends drinking Ginger Wine and decided to go home and continue my night at my notebooks.
I tried lots of different experiments to generate poems; each of these poems will be left unedited, and therefore, in their purest form.

These experiments took the form of listening to poetry performances [I used the Beats live at the Albert Hall] very quietly against the amplified sounds of the city. Or watching videos of swirling starlings. These poems also took form simply from reading a book by lamplight or by studying the shape of a Ginger Wine bottle. The poems in this forming collection demonstrate a sense of forced spontaneity and its ok to sometimes explore the unfamiliar or to experiment with the familiar. I will share some of the poems from this collection at a later date.

PSEUDONYM OR REAL NAME

Words by Jade Wolf

The logistics of using a pseudonym have always intrigued me. Currently using one myself, I have undergone an internal crises; should I use one? Or should I not? I have found recently that actually I might want the work I am doing to be labelled with my name, so that I can claim credit for it. I feel as though the work I have produced under my pseudonym (whilst some of it is admittedly awful), I am not taking credit for, and I want it to be labelled under my real name.

I have written this article in an attempt to straighten out my thoughts, as well as to help out anyone else considering, or using, a pen name.

Benefits:

• It conceals your identity. This can be an advantage if it could interfere with your other careers, or whether you want a name that reflects you on a deeper level.

• You dislike your real name. If you dislike your name, or have a long and complicated one, it might be more sensible to change it.

• If your name doesn’t fit the genre you are writing for. This can be helpful to aid the genre market; however, keeping it professional is most important.

• Branding. You can create a brand around your name, which can be useful when marketing.

Disadvantages:

• It conceals your identity. Whilst this can be an advantage, it can also be a problem. If you are writing under a pseudonym because your opinion is controversial, you need to have the guts to defend it under your real name. If you are using one because your work isn’t up to scratch, change the standard of your work rather than your name.

• If you have the same name as an existing author, you may be required to change it by a publishing house regardless of whether you want to.

• Your work will never be associated with the real you. Whilst this can be great if that is your intention, you must be comfortable knowing that it will never be accredited to your real name.

• Branding. Whilst yes, branding can be useful, it can also remove the author from the readers as they are no longer a person, just a marketing strategy.

Whilst there have been many reasons in the past, such as changing your name for gender associated reason, I do not believe they are as relevant now. And some use their pen names to avoid tax; I would not recommend that any of our readers do this. Ultimately, a pseudonym will not protect you from any legal action taken against you; that must be made clear. But it can be useful; it all depends on what you want and how you use it.

Please let me know of any thoughts you have about using a pseudonym, I have still yet to decide whether to continue to use my pseudonym or not.

Jade.

Meet the Founders…(4)

Hello,

I am Jade.

 

My role within Foxtrot Uniform is the Head of Publishing and Artistic Director. I was the second person to become involved in Foxtrot Uniform due to my knowledge of publishing and editing, as well as my artistic and writing ability.

 

I have loved reading literature since I was very young, constantly spending hours reading when and where I could. I began writing at age 13, but seriously took up the idea of being an author aged 15. As well as poetry, I enjoy writing prose and drama, being heavily influence by my acting history. I have written short stories, a novella, two plays and various amounts of poetry in recent years.

 

My writing process begins with throwing my ideas down on the page, followed by a heavy editing process in order to create the desired outcome. I particularly strive for eloquent and poetic language across all mediums of my work, taking influence from the likes of Shakespeare and Allen Ginsberg.

 

As a multifaceted creative person, I have to divide my time between art, drama and writing. I often find myself drawing or painting, as well as attending the theatre and joining the thespian society at my university.

 

I look forward to reading your submissions, if you have any inquires please don’t hesitate to email us.

 

Best,

 

Jade

 

Meet the Founders…(3)

Y’ello readers,

I’m a West Country Literature/Creative Writing student studying in Chester and soon to be studying for a year in Sweden. My role in the magazine consists of working with Holly on the Selections/Corrections process, as well as keeping on top of all things social.

I started dabbling with writing in my last year of Sixth Form, wanting to take it on further through my University years. Through a combination of degree work and becoming housemates with Josh, my work has been and is still going through the experimental phase, testing out various themes and styles in which to present my work. I imagine I will always be in this experimental phase, however I can only see this as a benefit for years to come.

Nailing down any particular influences proves difficult: I attempt to read and watch a diverse amount of work so that I am open to new ideas all the time. In saying that however, I am partial to most things dystopian, surreal and absurd (the weirder the better).

In my very spare time I drink beer and coffee, traverse the UK by train and keep up to date with most sports and news articles. Taa for reading: I look forward to each and every submission!

Yours faithfully,

Reece Merrifield

Meet the Founders… (2)

Hi, I am Holly Royle, my role within Foxtrot Uniform is Selections and Corrections. This involves editing, particularly regarding grammar and punctuation, along with partaking in choosing pieces to be published in the magazine.

I have loved literature from an early age, but only in more recent years have I started writing my own poetry and prose. I find that inspiration occurs randomly throughout the day, therefore I frequently make notes of any passing ideas I may have for a poem or short story.

I am greatly influenced by Gothic and Victorian literature, predominantly the works of the Brontë sisters. The differing portrayals of life and the darkness within humans by the sisters in each of their works is extraordinary. Charlotte’s Villette, Emily’s Wuthering Heights and Anne’s Agnes Grey, are my favourites out of all their works. Dark and disturbing themes of death, uncanniness and madness are areas that I find particularly fascinating, and are well explored in the Gothic and Victorian genre. Ideas that challenge concepts of normality greatly appeal to me and I am looking forward to reading submissions which provide an insight into how others view the world.

Best wishes,
Holly.

 

Meet the Founders (1)…

Hi I am Joshua Cialis…

Think of me as the Lawrence Ferlinghetti of Foxtrot Uniform. I am a poet and the Editor of Foxtrot Uniform, I keep everything moving within the magazine and help to choose pieces to publish. I originally came up with the idea for Foxtrot Uniform midway into my second year of university after several failed attempts to find a platform to share my work; so after gathering a group of friends around me we launched Foxtrot Uniform opening for submissions.

I originally started writing in my late high school years; starting with simple rhymes and then gradually moving away from form and exploring the ways words work together seamlessly – I believe in Allen Ginsberg’s phrase ‘first thought, best thought’, and therefore do little editing of my work. Although, I do sometimes tweak words to make the poem flow better. There’s great need for more spontaneous writing in a world governed by pre-written speeches and rolling scripted news. We live in a world of uncontested ‘facts’ – whether they are true or not – and poetry, I think, is the way back to opinion. A freedom of speech written in spontaneous verse.

As a writer I am greatly influenced by the likes of Keats and Blake, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, John Cooper Clarke and Mike Garry, but also enjoy reading (and listening to) the poetry of Simon Armitage and Holly McNish. I write in a style mixed between formed verse and formless prosaic poetry; and enjoy the truth that spontaneity allows the writer to give on the page or stage.

I look forward to reading your pieces when you have sent them in to us. If you have any questions directly for me, send an email to foxtrotuniformpoetry@gmail.com and address the subject line to ‘Joshua’.

Yours creatively,

Joshua