In order to engage with younger audiences, poetry and literature has to think about how to present itself. This is even more applicable when it comes to poetry or literature, which in the past have largely overlooked design. We are more likely to pay attention to a publication, a product or even a person, if they are packaged well. The process of breaking up a text with photographs, illustrations or even just well-placed paragraph breaks, can make it so much easier to digest. Design plays a gigantic part in packaging up something as more desirable. "Personally, I have a strong interest in poetry and I still find it hard to stomach those poetry magazines that continue to print pages upon pages of poetry in Times New Roman on book paper stock. "When we first had the idea of creating Popshot, we wanted to reach an audience that many of the poetry magazines weren't reaching," says Denno. The latest edition contains the work of poets Jack Stannard (Vogue thinks he's someone to watch this year) and Inua Ellams, fresh from a one-man-show at the National Theatre, as well as Helen Mort (five-times Foyle Young Poets of the Year winner). Published twice a year, it mixes illustration, design and contemporary poetry. This is especially true of Popshot, founded in October 2008 by 22-year-old Jacob Denno, which has full-page illustrations and modern typography. Inventiveness comes in the selection of words and design, as well as the marriage between them. "It's not over-slick, but is attractive and it has hidden depths." "It's about the shape of a brochure and has a few ads every time that's how we survive," says editor Sophie Lewis. Recent contributors have included writers, novelists and playwrights such as Etgar Keret, Benjamin Zephaniah, Glyn Maxwell and Yiyun Li. The free magazine is now distributed monthly in print and online, containing four or five short stories, flash fiction and poetry. It is now owned by the publishing house Ocean Media, after Fell met the company's publisher, Eric Akoto, at a London book fair. Its inaugural editor, south London resident Mike Fell, launched the magazine in 2005 as a folded sheet of photocopied paper with a single story that he distributed on Friday mornings outside Tube stations. A lot of the more traditional magazines are wedded to a certain aesthetic and it's fun not having to pay attention." We have to hustle and the stakes aren't as high. At worst, people aren't reading literary magazines because they don't think they're fun. We are trying to show you can still have Susan Sontag alongside NWA, a huge mix of writers and topics. You need newer titles with new ideas there needs to be movement in that world. "It's good to try to challenge the more established magazines," says Taylor. While Five Dials' inaugural issue contained an 1852 letter from Flaubert to Louise Colet, the first in a series of "exemplar letters", in more recent times it has juxtaposed articles on gangster rap with more high-brow fare. Indeed, the editors of these fledgling organs claim that low budgets spur inventiveness. People starting out aren't going to get something into The Paris Review." That said, at least two of its former contributors – Pia Chatterjee and Nikesh Shukla – have gone on to secure agents and publishing deals directly as a result of appearing in Pen Pusher. "It appeals to young people with an interest in literature looking to get published. "It's a niche market, definitely," she continues. Such connections help the magazine target a younger audience. It was saddle-stitched it wasn't photocopied but it had that kind of look." Goodall convinced Ricky Wilson, lead singer of Kaiser Chiefs and, lesser known, a talented graphic designer, to design Pen Pusher's distinctive monochrome nib logo. So some friends and I had an idea to give people an outlet. "Many of us got into it thinking it would be creative, but it actually isn't, and it's frustrating because you come into close contact with a lot of people who are doing creative jobs, and that can be quite annoying. "A lot of people who work in publishing are dissatisfied," says Goodall.
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