Season’s Greetings from Pushing Out the Boat

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.