Irish Pages

Irish Pages

Cover of Vol 5, Issue 1: Language and Languages
Editors	Chris Agee, Cathal Ó Searcaigh
Categories	Literary magazine
Frequency	Biannual
First issue	2002
Country	Northern Ireland
Based in	Belfast
Language	English and Irish
Website	http://www.irishpages.org
ISSN	1477-6162

Irish Pages: A Journal of Contemporary Writing is a literary magazine published in Belfast and edited by Chris Agee and Cathal Ó Searcaigh. It was launched in 2002 and appears biannually.

The journal regularly publishes articles related to Belfast and Northern Ireland generally, as well as works with a more international view. It prints both established and previously unpublished writers. According to the Irish Pages website

Its policy is to publish poetry, short fiction, essays, creative non-fiction, memoir, essay reviews, nature-writing, translated work, literary journalism, and other autobiographical, historical, religious and scientific writing of literary distinction. There are no standard reviews or narrowly academic articles. Irish Language and Ulster Scots writing are published in the original, with English translations or glosses.^[1]

Irish Pages has grown considerably since its inception in 2002, with a print run that has now risen to 2800,^[1] and an international audience. It receives subscriptions from all over Europe, Asia, Australia and North and South America.

Political outlook

Irish Pages does not associate itself with any political movements in Ireland or elsewhere. To quote from the journal's brochure:

"IRISH PAGES is a non-partisan, non-sectarian, culturally ecumenical, and wholly independent journal. It endorses no political outlook or cultural tradition, and has no editorial position on the constitutional question. Its title refers to the island of Ireland in a purely apolitical and geographic sense, in the same manner of The Church of Ireland or the Irish Sea. The sole criteria for inclusion in the journal are the distinction of writing and the integrity of the individual voice. Equal editorial attention will be given to established, emergent and new writers."

Regular Features

Each issue of Irish Pages contains a number of regular features, including "The View from the Linen Hall", an editorial on cultural or political issues, domestic or international; "From the Irish Archive", a biographical note on and work from a non-contemporary Irish writer; and "The Publishing Scene", a commissioned piece which examines issues and trends in the literary world of Ireland, Britain or the United States.^[1]

In Other Words

In Other Words features work in translation, with each issue featuring writing from a different country. This section has included translations from Arabic,^[2] Bosnian,^[3] Vietnamese,^[4] German,^[5] Russian,^[6] and Turkish.^[7]

Portfolio

Each issue also includes a set of 16–24 captioned photographs, appearing under the name "Portfolio." Previous photographic contributors have included Bobbie Hanvey,^[8] John Minihan, and Paul Seawright.^[9]

Contributors

Irish Pages draws on a wide range of international contributors. These have included:

Chris Agee, Gary Allen, Neal Ascherson, John Berger, Sven Birkerts, Wendell Berry, John Burnside, Angus Calder, Moya Cannon, Ciarán Carson, Harry Clifton, Patricia Craig, Andrew Crumey, Gerald Dawe, Michael Davitt, Leontia Flynn, Brian Friel, David Grossman, Michael Hamburger, Hugo Hamilton, Seamus Heaney, Julia Kristeva, Michael Longley, Medbh McGuckian, Máire Mhac an tSaoi, John Montague, Paul Muldoon, Mira Nair, Tom Paulin, Tim Robinson, Susan Sontag.^[10]

Editorial Staff

Irish Pages is edited by Chris Agee, a poet and essayist who holds dual Irish and American citizenship. The Irish Language Editor, Cathal Ó Searcaigh, is an Irish poet who writes in the Ulster dialect of the Irish language. Seán MacAindreasa is the Managing Editor.^[11]

The journal's staff also includes a number of interns who are currently students at Queen's University Belfast—Lynley Edmeades, Ben Maier, Ríonnagh Sheridan, Elizabeth Switaj, and Rachel Watterson—and an intern based in London, Brian Davey.^[10]

Other Publications from Irish Pages

Cover of New Voices(2009)

• Chris Agee, ed. (2003). Unfinished Ireland: Essays on Hubert Butler. Irish Pages, in association with the Butler Society. ISBN 0-9544257-0-7. 

This collection of essays includes the keynote contributions to The Hubert Butler Centenary Celebration (October 2000) in original or revised form, together with two comprehensive bibliographies and a selection of historic photographs.

• H.L. Hix, ed. (2008). New Voices: Contemporary Poetry from The United States. Irish Pages. ISBN 978-0-9544257-9-1. 

The first major anthology of contemporary American poetry published in Ireland, this collection is part on an international literary exchange between the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the National Endowment for the Arts in the United States. It features Sherman Alexie, Kazim Ali, Craig Arnold, Quan Barry, Stephen Burt, Dan Chiasson, Ben Lerner, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Kevin Prufer, Mary Quade, Paisley Rekdal, Tracy K. Smith, Juliana Spahr, A.E. Stallings, Donna Stonecipher, Mary Szybist, Natasha Trethewey, Christian Wiman, Kevin Young, Rachel Zucker, and a number of lesser-known emerging writers.

Related Events

Irish Pages sponsors an annual lecture which occurs at a different venue each year. It has taken place in Dublin and Belfast. The invited speaker is always a past contributor to the journal. The 2010 lecture, "To Scullabogue Backwards from Belfast: Against Sectarian Preconceptions" was given by Patricia Craig^[12]

The journal also holds an annual Up-and-Coming Reading featuring new and emerging poets based in Belfast^[13] and participates in the annual Belfast Culture Night.^[14][15]

Global Literary Network

Begun as a collaboration between Irish Pages and Sarajevske Sveske, the Global Literary Network is a project bringing together literary journals from across continental and language divides. Participants thus far hail from Belfast, Sarajevo, New York, and New Delhi.^[16] The stated goal is

to foster the appreciation of outstanding writing across national barriers through translation, reprints, interviews, journal exchanges, international publicity, cultural dialogue and other forms of publishing and literary cooperation.^[10]

Notes

External links

Review of Irish Pages Vol 5, No 2 at Newpages.com, Feb. 2011 Review of Irish Pages Vol 4, No 2 at Elevate Difference, Feb. 2011