Welcome to 2013!

After a rather long hiatus, Enigma Magazine is back up and running for the New Year! We’re looking forward to another literary helping of poetry, prose and scripts of all kinds – and hopefully some recordings for our online platform on Youtube!

The theme is rather on topic with the years slipping away so quickly – and that is on the subject of RENEWAL. To see what we accept, please look at the Submit tab on our main blog page.

I look forward as usual to reading all of your efforts!

Hope you are all well and speak to you soon!
Susan

What a time it’s been!

As the ceremonies draw to a close in London, it seems a fitting time that we unveil our new issue to the world! Our theme this summer was quite expected – Going for Gold, and the numerous ways in which it can explored and achieved! With a fine display of strength, attitude, courage and teamwork, it’s lovely to be able to celebrate this in Enigma Magazine! You can check it out now on the side bar.

Susan

Enigma in transmission!

While we’ve had Enigma on the stage and on the page, we are developing yet another medium of creativity – youtube! We invite you to send us recordings and videos of all things literary that we can put up and share on our brand new channel!

Please email us at mag.enigma@googlemail.com as we’ve had technical difficulties with our other email address. We are also accepting work out to be read by us – so if you’re a little camera shy, don’t worry about wanting to get your voice on the air!

In other news, Issue 7 is finally, finally ready! Have a look!

Susan

Going for Gold – The Final Stretch!

Hope everyone is well and supporting their team on the road to glory and pride for their country!

The world has been brought together in a great display of sportsmanship, bravery, team spirit and determination to give their best performance for their respective discliplines, and it’s great to see how it’s been reflected here in London! More people are getting into sport and places around have been letting out free table tennis and swimming amongst many other things. We also have the cultural programme in full swing – I managed to catch the show “Bells” by Akademi, incorporating many styles and cultures as well as beautiful aerial displays!

We want to continue the theme at Going for Gold that little while longer, so please please get your work in for us. Send poetry, prose and playscripts to mag.enigma@googlemail.com (we’ve had issues with our old email) and show us what it means to you! We’d be delighted to hear everyone’s take on the subject!

Susan

Moving the Goal posts and judging a book by its cover!

As the Olympics approach, we’ve decided to move the goalposts or indeed the finish line! The deadline for this issue Going for Gold, will now be the 30th July – so get your submissions in as soon as you can!

Also, following on our previous post on judging a book on its cover (see here), there’s an amazing example how book covers can lead us to believe different things just by its image or title. It’s so important when you think about it – book marketing can be a tricky deal indeed! We see adverts on the tube or word of mouth, but with such closed items in a book store, it can be so hard to find the right book at the right time! Of course, the landscape has changed with related books and customer lists on Goodreads and Amazon, but the mystery still lies in looking at a cover, reading the blurb and making a decision!

On the babble blogs under stroller derby, a 6 year old creates amazing and at times quite accurate guesses as to what the classics may contain, simply by looking at the cover and illustrations! See here!

Susan

Going for Gold!

With the wonderful things going on this year – we at Enigma are all about getting the gold – reach our goals, share our pearls of wisdom – whatever the gold is for you! It’s not just about the winning and the medals – it’s reaching the goal that you have set for yourself and being proud of your achievements – that’s the true gold in my opinion!

So to celebrate, Enigma Creative Writing Magazine invites YOU – yes, you – to show us your goals and what’s your gold! Going for gold is our theme for the summer, which you can see in this lovely image – see below for more details!

Susan

 

The Summer of Love!

Hi everyone,

It’s been so long since I’d written the last blog post, with the Shakespearean loving still very much alive – there’s been so many shows (including a special QI version) and radio programs celebrating the universal, timeless and worldwide appeal that the bard still has in our hearts today! However, Shakespeare is not the only one to undergo the literary spotlight this year – the British Library has unveiled the Writing Britain exhibit, featuring manuscripts, videos, images and recordings of some of the most loved works of literature that still permeate the hearts of today! I’ll put up a review as I’m planning to see it soon!

I’m also resident of my new personal blog, which is depicting the journey I’m undergoing as a prospective PhD students (don’t worry, Enigma will still run strong!) at http://skittykittyphd.wordpress.com/. I do love wordpress, seriously! I have also put up reviews of the BFI Scifi London Festival that I attended earlier this year.

Also, for those of you would like to read and write some more current literature – then get ready to send your work to us! We’re opening up again for submissions until the 23rd of July! I’ll add the details soon. Speak soon and enjoy your weekend!

Susan

 

Happy Birthday Shakespeare!

Shakespeare celebrated his 448th birthday on the 23rd April this week (although the actual date itself is often disputed), opening the world’s biggest festival to celebrate his work. Now the great bard himself does not need any introduction, having helped shaped our language and culture to a huge extent. I had a poster that’s probably in my family home that has all his coined phrases, some of which absolutely astounded me. It’s scary to see how much of his language we use in everyday conversation, yet his work is often seen to be hard work to decipher.

As a wonderful tribute to the bard, Mark Ravenhill, a playwright and writer in residence of the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) wrote and performed a sonnet (true Shakespeare stylee), which you can see in the link below:

http://www.rsc.org.uk/about-us/updates/mark-ravenhill-sonnet.aspx

Another amazing feature is the technological tribute and “digital footprint” that Shakespeare has left in his beautiful literary legacy – the myShakespeare, which does sound very odd yet fascinating. You can share art and writing in the gallery as well as even tracking his digital footprint, the app of which is named after the ghost Banquo in Hamlet. You can find this at http://myshakespeare.worldshakespearefestival.org.uk/. Be sure to get involved!

Susan

Issue 8 is here!

With the chopping and changing weather in London, it’s nice to be sure of something certain – the next issue of Enigma! We’ve really pushed the boat out for the first issue of 2012, set with interviews, features and of course poetry and prose – all on the theme of love!

Enjoy, readers!

Susan

Happy World Poetry Day!

Just a day after Word Storytelling Day, we are treated again to another literary celebration!

World Poetry Day is celebrated every year on March 21st by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) since 1999. This day celebrates and recognises the social and cultural impact of poetry on the world, promoting the production, performance and the teaching of this great medium?

What have been your greatest memories regarding poetry? Mine would definitely have to be reading and performing poetry – spoken word being the phenomenon I recently discovered a couple of years ago. From years of learning from the page at school and university to hearing it resonate amongst an audience, it felt amazing to discover a new dimension to a form I thought I had known so well.

Here is the main link to World Poetry Day at UNESCO: http://www.un.org/en/events/poetryday/

I also found this resource for teaching poetry: a collaboration with the Samaritans, which is called DEAL (developing emotional awareness and learning) at http://teachers.guardian.co.uk/teacher-resources/6756/Samaritans-DEAL-with-poetry. I’ve always found poetry enriching and a therapy all its own, so it’s great to see initiatives like this!