The Fankle

How time flies, when you’re sitting listening to the rain hammering down on the windows …  yet another great issue of the Fankle is winging out across the county. The theme this time was Down the Drain and, perhaps predictably, there’s a somewhat watery tone to the resulting publication. Watery, but not wet.

It’s plain / this land is all / but liquid… (from Jean Atkin’s Scotland Overflows)

The days are already drawing out though, and so the next theme might bring a more cheerful note: the Great Escape. Sharpen your pencils and uncap your pens and dream your way into something that gets us out of the rain. All D&G writers can send us something in – see our submission guidelines for details

Once more, when putting together an issue the Fankle, I have discovered that there’s no accounting for poets. Sex ‘n’ Drugs ‘n’ Bacon rolls – what could be more light hearted and cheerful than that, you ask? And yet, as ever, we found an edge of darkness creeping in to our latest issue, no 8, which will be hitting the shops right about … now.

Given how much our submitters like to wrongfoot us, who knows what the next issue will be like – but in an attempt to get something a little light hearted we have settled on ‘down the drain’.

Get scribbling…

Don’t forget that our deadline for submissions for the next issue is the 31st October. The theme is sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ bacon rolls, but as ever, we’re looking for something a little offbeat… so let your imagination run free

Such is the editorial life that, no sooner have we got Issue 7 folded and out to our distributors, we have to start thinking about Issue 8 and specifically the theme.

This time I made the tactical error of asking some of our gallant team of folders what the theme should be. After a little discussion, they came up with a doozy:

Sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ bacon rolls

Now, we know some folks might find this a mite controversial, but we’ve decided to run with it. After all, we’ve all experimented in our youth, and as long as it’s between consenting adults and taken in moderation, then we believe that bacon can be enjoyed responsibly. Just remember kids: you should never inhale it.

Happy writing.

After a fast and furious joint folding session at the Gracefield Arts Cafe tonight – lubricated by a couple of bottles of wine – the Crichton and Dumfries Writers groups are happy to announce that Issue 7 of the Fankle – the ‘over a barrel’ edition, for reasons now lost in the mists of time – will be hitting the shops and libraries of the county in the next few days.

Roll out the Barrel: folded fankles ready to be released

In these inflationary and recessionary times, its cover price is still amazingly only 50p. You’ll be able to get your hands on one at Wigtown this weekend, or else in one of our many stockists across the county. We’re more widely available than ever this year so you’ve no excuse for not getting your hands on one.

And for those of you who feel inspired to submit your work yourself, we’ll be announcing the theme for the next issue within days. It was chosen at the folding session after a fair bit of the wine had been drunk, and that’s all I’m saying…

Well, the Fankle has been on its summer break and it’s time to revive it in time for the coming autumn (and how depressing is that? Not the reviving bit, of course, just the whole summer ending before it’s begun…) This year the Fankle will be a joint effort between the Crichton Writers and the Dumfries Writers, with a bit of Newton Stewart thrown in in the form of the Curlywee writers’ group. We’re also opening submissions to anyone living in the county whether they’re in a writers’ group or not, so watch this space for a regular announcement of the next theme and a call for submissions

In fact this is the very first of those calls: the next issue of the Fankle will have the theme over a barrel, and we’re looking for short prose and poems interpreting that as loosely or as strictly as you choose.

To find out how to submit see our submission page. Get writing!

It’s that time again (actually, it was that time again about a week ago, but I’ve been busy) when the Fankle hits the shops and libraries around the county. Issue Six, our Crossing Borders edition has been a great one to put together – we had a load of strong submissions and it was hard to choose just what would make it in, but we’ve done it.

You can get hold of the Fankle from one of our stockists – from the Ewart Library to Byre Books or points in between. Or if you’re having trouble getting your hands on one let us know and we’ll get one to you, one way or another.