Pushing Out the Boat

  • probably the best regional literary magazine in Scotland,
  • high quality writing, with a unique blend of the local and the global.
  • a thrilling place to be published alongside writers and artists from around the world

Shane Strachan

a visual feast across beautiful artworks and well-crafted images of language which has much to be savoured throughout.

Shane Strachan

Duncan McLean

. . . sharp-eyed, open minded . . . helping to launch the careers of many new writers and to publish high quality work by established writers

Duncan McLean

Alan Spence

Well-produced, nicely balanced… one of the most attractive magazines of its kind in Scotland, providing an important forum for new poetry and prose

Alan Spence

Esther Woolfson

It has expanded its horizons while maintaining the tone and savour of place which has always made it unique.

Esther Woolfson

J Graeme Roberts

…a high quality magazine like Pushing Out the Boat encourages and enables North-East writers and artists to bring their best work to the attention of a wide and discerning audience…

J Graeme Roberts

Tom Hammick

… a fantastic magazine … essential for highlighting and enriching local culture. I’m a huge fan of literary publications and the work within POTB is of such high standard.

Tom Hammick

Isobel Murray

Its standards remain exceptionally high, and format makes it a delight to handle

Isobel Murray

Wayne Price

… more than just another literary magazine … its 14 issues comprise an extraordinary and beautifully produced treasure house of new writing and art.

Wayne Price

Christine de Luca

. . . it continues to delight in its eclectic range of literary and visual contributions and in the care with which it is produced

Christine de Luca

Magi Gibson

. . . a fantastic and quality showpiece for art and new literature from the North East of Scotland

Magi Gibson

Mindy Grewar

I find that if you tap the covers, Pushing Out the Boat becomes a Marauders Map and Phrasebook, indispensable for sojourns in this space of sea and peak, couth and cheek…

Mindy Grewar

John Aberdein

Seafaring and mindfaring are vital to our city: more power to the elbows of those who push out this handsome vessel.

John Aberdein

Our next issue

Submissions to Issue 18 closed on 30 September 2024. The work of selecting contributions, designing and editing the magazine is in progress with the aim of publication in Spring 2025.

Our current issue

Pushing Out the Boat Issue 17 was launched in May 2023 and is jam-packed with a hundred pages of wonderful stories, poems and art by writers and artists not only from our ‘home turf’ but from across Scotland and the UK and as far afield as Germany, Netherlands and the USA.

In his generous foreword to the magazine, the National Library of Scotland’s Scots Scriever, Shane Strachan, describes this edition of Pushing Out the Boat as ‘one of the strongest issues yet … a visual feast across beautiful artworks and well-crafted images of language which has much to be savoured throughout,’ and who are we to disagree?

Click on the cover image to take a peek into the magazine – read Shane’s foreword, view the Contents page, sample some extracts and browse through a photo gallery of the art that appears within. Perhaps you will be inspired to submit to Issue 18.

Copies of Issue 17 can be ordered here for postal delivery or purchased from one of our retail outlets.

Our Magazines

The first issue of Pushing Out the Boat was published in the year 2000, since when there have been a sequence high quality magazines leading up to our latest publication. You can read about how we work, who we are and how the magazines are produced on the About POTB page and the full back catalogue of magazines can be viewed on Our Magazines page.

Our current edition is  POTB Issue 17. Within its pages you will find humour, pathos and drama in Doric, Scots and English, along with stimulating works of art. There’s a rich variety of theme and style from the contributing authors, poets and artists – with a mixture of new voices along with more familiar names.

Image from Issue 17
An image from Issue 17

Issue 17 can be purchased from our retail outlets or ordered from our online store.

After looking at Issue 17, why not browse through other editions of the magazine. Online versions of Issues 9 – 16 can be read in full and sample extracts from Issues 6 – 8 offer a flavour of earlier editions. Then visit our online shop where all editions of the magazine are available for purchase.

Donations

POTB is an entirely voluntary and not-for-profit enterprise. The costs of producing this beautiful magazine are met by magazine sales, fund-raising events and donations. Any contributions, however small, are hugely appreciated and will help keep us afloat. Use the button below to donate via PayPal.


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