One is never short of a good quality free read in this city. If you frequent a decent independent bar or coffee shop it is possible to pick up a complementary copy of Bido Lito, Good News or the north west edition of Scottish cultural newspaper The Skinny. Adding their name to this list of titles come Easter time will be the second issue of Liverpool based poetry magazine Jarg.
Jarg began over two years ago when Mattthew Thomas Smith met Ben Russell and Alex Bennett whilst studying creative writing at John Moores University. Driven by a desire to give poets a stage and “get poetry to people who would not normally read it” and “spread it further than university lecture halls” the first edition featured work by eleven poets. Although as, Matthew tells me, he and his two co-editors received submissions from over seventy people!
The ethos of this first edition was strictly DIY. Jarg, which takes it’s name from a scouse term for fake or inauthentic, was chosen as it sounds “memorable and anchored to Liverpool”. They were keen not to take money from advertisers and raised the funds to publish and distribute the magazine by putting on nights at Sound Food And Drink on Duke Street. Marvin Powell, Psycho Comedy and She Drew The Gun all played early gigs at Jarg events. The Lucid Dream’s Mike Denton has also DJ’d. In the time between issue one and issue two the night has also raised money for The Whitechapel Centre. The next event is planned for summer.
Three hundred copies of the first issue were printed and distributed and they did not last long. “The first day we put them out they were gone within two hours. They flew out really” Matthew told me over a chat in Unit 51.
However, with the second edition there will be a few differences. One of which will be taking some advertising. But this will not mean taking money from big corporations. “You won’t find a two page spread for Sainsburys. It’ll be all local businesses like Dig Vinyl and people like that.” The reason for this is that costs will be higher for this issue.
In addition to wider distribution Matthew and the other editors are expanding the format of the magazine. It will also include artwork and may also feature interviews. He hopes that this will provide some insight into the creative process and motivations behind the poets’ work. “In order to promote the work it may be good idea to show how and why people write poetry. Rather than say ‘read this.’ “
Submissions of work are always welcomed. “If they do not go in this issue they may go in future issues.”
Jarg can be contacted at [email protected]
Information on future fundraising nights and the magazine itself can be found on the Facebook page here and Twitter page here.
Andy Sunley
