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LITERATURE: BRAG MAGAZINE
B R A G B R A G
A literary magazine born in disruption - creating throughout the pandemic
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because we can’t go outside.” - Brandon Bennett, BRAG editor-in-chief
Since January 2020, Manchester-based literary magazine BRAG have found success after the publication of their first issue Where Has It Gone, featuring poetry, short stories, interviews, and ‘smoke-long’ horror.
It would be erroneous to assume the success of BRAG stops there. They went on to release their second issue Anything Human, a process which went a lot smoother than the first issue and worked “like a well-oiled machine”, as editor-in-chief Brandon Bennett phrased it.
Late on a bleak Wednesday evening, aAh! sat down for a casual, virtual chat with Brandon to find out how the pandemic had disrupted the publishing process of BRAG. While sipping on a citrusy IPA, Brandon told us: “Within the first issue, we were faced with a lot of communication barriers.” These barriers were the result of online communication with industry professionals, which delayed the issue by three weeks.
Like many independent businesses trying to establish themselves, the marketing of BRAG was increasingly difficult with the shift to online spaces. “We would have loved to have done launch events, and gone to literary festivals to show off what we’ve done,” said Brandon.
Instead of physically launching and promoting BRAG, Brandon revealed social media, particularly Twitter, was a huge help. Through Twitter, editors were able to communicate with writers who they admire and have managed to expand their readership to both America and India.
The BRAG editors say they have ‘stepped it up a gear’ for issue II and indeed, they have. This latest instalment features poetry from Canadian poet, Karen Solie, Welsh poet, Lowri Williams, and art by Luby Cunningham, as well as a new ‘smoke-long paranoia’ section. The full-colour artwork on the front cover is by the mysterious artist Miles Lounsbach.
When asked if Brandon thought the disruption of the pandemic and lockdown had actually pushed the team to crack on with the production of BRAG, he said: “It probably would have happened anyway, but not in the same way. I’m glad it’s happened the way it has.”
The future looks very promising for BRAG, as Brandon revealed his long-term goals for the literary magazine. “In the long term we would like to branch out into pamphlets, conduct workshops, and become sort of an institution,” he said. The idea to create a literary magazine emerged after Brandon and BRAG’s poetry editor Will S Barnard started a poetry society independent from university. Brandon recalled: “We came to the conclusion, through doing this we could create a magazine and nothing happened for two years.” Brandon recognised the magazine came to fruition by surrounding himself with the right people who he could rely on to develop and finish the project.
“BRAG is a tangible work of art and has been enjoyed all over the world, it’s the work of people who love what they do,” said Brandon.
In our digital world, BRAG is unique, the magazine does not have an online publication. It is refreshing to have a magazine which is, as Brandon puts it “of the highest quality”. Works of art are all bound perfectly together on high-quality paper. Brandon added: “Printing something of such value, honours the work that’s inside.
Despite the difficulties, the pandemic, Brandon told us, was a force for good. “We suddenly found ourselves with no distractions, we could force ourselves to sit down and write which helped the process.” He added, “No one stops creating things just because we can’t go outside.”
For those of you who still have a burning desire to know what BRAG stands for, Brandon simply replied: “Ask me next time.”
Buy your copy of BRAG at bragwriters.com
would you stay still & breathe as peaceful as a skull…
for these are the days you’ll only find yourself
through the thin thread of sunlight gently darting into the idle boughs
there is you storm, water, gossamer lights, striving to make their rainbows, for the winter months of blackouts, the spinning of icicles in your spleen
you are learning to survive/remember the meaning of each hue/cramp
inside your glass cubbyhole you carry a stone, swing from the past & let yourself out of the bolts
crashing into the lobe of a sister returning from the crumbles of Troy
turning a blunt blade on her sunken shoulder she pierces you with a big laugh.
GRACE! that is all you get. Have the machete now take the leech down from the cross.
Gabriel Awuah
Maria Lykke Salling Wings
We’re building a fence now, to Germany. To keep the wolves out they say. This is not a metaphor they say. Why are people afraid here?
A plane can take you anywhere it took me away from white picket fences, white fingers, white rabbits, white crosses We have washed the streets clean wiped the slate clean Here’s our country. Have it. Did you know it’s still legal to kill a Swede if he walks on the frozen sea towards you
Where is your home? How many countries have you lived in? How many floors did your feet scuff? How many walls desperately covered in quotes?
Is this but another pavement broken by a people that isn’t yours?
A plane can take you anywhere
Men mit hjerte (But my heart tænker kun på only dreams of vinger wings)
