Submissions of writing and artwork are invited to Issue 18 of Pushing Out the Boat, North-East Scotland’s acclaimed magazine of prose, poetry and visual arts. The window for submissions is 1 July – 30 September 2024. Issue 18 will be published in Spring 2025.

Follow this link for further details on how to make a submission.

Welcome to Pushing Out The Boat‘s seasonal newsletter, reflecting on the busy year we’ve had and looking forward to the next.

Most of our attention this year has been focused on the publication and launch of our 17^th issue. Thanks to the help of our whole team of volunteers, the magazine was completed in time for its launch at Newton Dee’s Phoenix Hall in May. We welcomed many contributors to the event, who read their poetry or prose to guests, or showcased their art – all in all, a successful afternoon. You can find photos on our blog.

Following the launch, we began to publicise each of our 14 magazine vendors through social media as part of our #VendorOfTheWeek series, highlighting the diverse range of locations available to purchase a copy. The continuation of our social media presence is now overseen by PR manager Naomi Greenwood, who we welcomed in March – keep an eye out on our Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for more updates on our activities.

Throughout the beginning of the year, local community radio station shmu fm’s Loraine Mudie continued to conduct her Words Up interviews with Pushing Out The Boat contributors. These proved an intriguing insight into the backgrounds of the many writers we’ve published, some returning to the magazine several years in a row. We would like to thank Loraine for her support and wish her the best in her next adventures as she departs from the show. Check out our interview with her, where she describes her experience on the programme.

Books and Beans, the popular coffee and book shop on Aberdeen’s Belmont Street, kindly hosted a selection of Issue 17 contributors at their monthly poetry event back in June, accompanied by plenty of coffee and cake.

Looking forward into the new year, we hope to host a reading event in Scotland’s central belt. Keep an eye out on our social media during the springtime for updates. All going well, submissions for our next issue will open at the beginning of July 2024.

The POTB Blog is continuously updated throughout the year, so make sure to check it out in case you’ve missed any posts.

Before we conclude, a reminder that a copy of a Pushing Out the Boat magazine makes a great Christmas present for family and friends. While the festive season is just around the corner, there is still time to order copies of issue 17 before Christmas, as well as previous releases.

Finally, we would like to thank you for your continued support. Your engagement, donations and copies purchased enable us to continue the publication of our beloved magazine, and celebrate talented writers and artists from the North East and further afield.

From all at Pushing Out The Boat, we wish you a very Merry Christmas, and may the New Year bring you an abundance of joy, laughter and good fortune.

Pushing Out the Boat Issue 17 was launched on 21 May 2023 at an event in the Phoenix Hall, Newton Dee, Aberdeen.

A selection of contributors and team members read poems and stories from the new issue and artists displayed the originals of their artwork in the foyer area.

Visit our blog for photos, reflections and details of the programme.

Once again we are opening up the Launch of the latest issue of Pushing Out the Boat magazine to members of the public.  Why not join us on the afternoon of Sunday 21 May and be amongst the first to see the new magazine?  This joyful event will include writers reading their poems and stories from Issue 17, and there will be a display of original artwork as featured in the new edition.  Plus you can meet the contributors and the Team!  The launch is in the wonderful Phoenix Community Hall at Newton Dee Village in Aberdeen.  Doors open at 1.30pm for a 2.30pm programme start, aiming to finish by 5pm.

Tickets cost a mere £12, or £15 for two people, which also includes a copy of the magazine and refreshments. Young people are welcome but please note that the event is open only to those aged 12 and over.

[Click here to book your tickets.]

If you can’t manage to the launch, copies of Issue 17 can be pre-ordered now, for delivery after the launch.

PUBLIC RELATIONS ROLE

Pushing Out the Boat has a new public relations role. This is a volunteer post, the main focus of which is to raise and maintain awareness of Pushing Out the Boat magazine throughout the year and to promote its sales. The following is a list of the public relations activity currently undertaken or planned. The successful candidate will be encouraged to review, refresh and add to these activities.

1. Organise publicity for the calls for submissions to forthcoming issues of our magazine.
2. Organise publicity for our events including the launch of new issues and the occasional reading events we hold ourselves or contribute to.
3. Assist with the planning and running of our events.
4. Run our social media accounts – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
5. Draft and issue media releases as required, seek opportunities for publicity in the media, and maintain our database of media contacts.
6. Draft our twice-yearly newsletter to our database of supporters and friends.
7. Draft and recommend an annual public relations plan for Pushing Out the Boat.
8. Attend and contribute to monthly team meetings.

You’ll need some understanding and experience of public relations, and you’ll probably get more out of the role if you’re interested in the arts. We’re a small friendly group based in and around Aberdeen and will help you get up to speed with our current activities and the way we do things.

E-mail coordinator@pushingouttheboat.co.uk to discuss the role or express an interest in applying.

Welcome to Pushing Out the Boat’s seasonal newsletter, our round-up of 2022 and a look forward to 2023.

First, our thanks to friends and followers who donated to our fundraiser last spring. Together with GiftAid, you raised nearly £2,100, ensuring we can produce Issue 17 (more on that below) and help secure our longer term future. We reported in detail on the fundraiser here. If you missed the fundraiser but would still like to help secure that longer term future you can visit our Crowdfunder page or follow the Donate button on our own website.

We also have to thank the writers and audience members who joined us at Aberdeen’s Blue Lamp in March for a great afternoon of short stories and poetry as well as songs from the Great American Songbook, thanks to the talented Alistair Eddie. The session was our first post-Covid venture into the world of face-to-face events, as well as a much-belated tribute to retired team members Freda Hasler and Martin Walsh. In his characteristically generous way, Martin also curated the event for us and contributed a tall story about a Walrus resident in Torry (where else) to our fundraiser. You can find all five chapters of Walrus on our website, as well as an account of our Blue Lamp event.

In a new venture, we also partnered with community radio station shmu.fm’s Words Up show to bring listeners in the Aberdeen area a series of programmes featuring authors who’ve appeared in the magazine. In the first show, host Loraine Mudie and editor Lily Greenall set the scene and Loraine reads a selection of work from past issues. You can listen to Words Up on shmu.fm on our website. Other programmes to follow.

Much of our effort this year has gone and will continue to go into the production of Issue 17 of Pushing Out the Boat. So a big thank you is due to the poets, authors and artists who submitted nearly 600 individual pieces of work for publication over the summer. Our panels are currently assessing them anonymously and everyone will find out over the next couple of months whether their submission has been successful. Look out for a (suitably discreet) blog post by an insider shortly about how our panels work.

We plan to launch Issue 17 in our now traditional way with the usual joyful afternoon of readings and display of art by contributors to the magazine. The tentative date is Sunday 21 May 2023 in Aberdeen, venue to be confirmed. Get it in your diaries and look out for our pre-ordering option for the magazine a month or so earlier.

Almost finally, don’t forget Pushing Out the Boat makes an ideal Christmas gift for your loved ones and friends. As well as Issue 16, we have small stocks of back issues available for purchase online and we can post to any address/recipient you specify. Order here or check our list of current vendors of Issue 16.

Finally, and most importantly, everyone at Pushing Out the Boat wishes you all the best for the Christmas season and the rapidly approaching new year. May both bring you what you most wish for yourself and keep at bay all the troubles of the world.

The call for submissions to Issue 17 of Pushing Out the Boat closed on 30th September 2022. We received a bumper crop of submissions to this issue – thanks to all who submitted.

Now the selection process begins, during which the Selection Panels will review all the entries received and make their choice of items to go forward to the publication. Once the selection process is complete, successful contributors will be notified by email. We aim to launch Issue 17 in Spring 2023.

For those who made a submission, further information is available here, including how to withdraw a submission, should you need to do so,