A Lit-Mag Adventure: Markings

In over thirteen years we have carried some notable passengers, brought others firmly into the public eye, while the crew have also grown and changed from raw recruits to seasoned old sea dogs with unfaded enthusiasm for new voyages but a greater awareness of dangerous waters ahead and a sure knowledge of the shoals and sandbanks that lie in wait to cause shipwreck.

Six of us were all considerably fresher faced in 1995 when we decided to set sail. There were no ranks, no roles and no rules. Elspeth Brown, Anne Darling, Donald Adamson, Jeff White, Tony Bonning and myself, all land-lubbers [I had only recently learnt to swim] drew up the plans for our first issue but the magazine didn't have a name. This was the first real test for the crew. Would we pull together or would there be division and mutiny?

We had enough suggestions to christen a fleet of ships but we had to choose just one. In the end we cracked the champagne on Donald's suggestion: Markings. However, we were still uncertain as to whether God would bless her and only vaguely aware of who would sail in her. We launched in a pub that had no nautical associations but that did attract a good number of the contributors, including a disinherited Earl who read his poem with trouser fly at half mast, a farm-hand who wrote stories for children about young Davey and his adventures at sea and a provocative piece by me in disguise about the recent beheading of Henry Moore's sculpture "The King and Queen" at its location in the Galloway countryside at Shawhead, not far from Markings' home, the port of Kirkcudbright. In my article I suggested a further act of vandalism. On the road sign directing traffic to Shawhead, I proposed striking out the 'h' - balance would be restored by subtraction. It caused a ripple.

A wish to sail against the tide was one aspect of our esprit de corps; another was supporting and training new recruits and hoping they might learn the ropes by rubbing shoulders with more experienced passengers. In those first few trips we press-ganged well-known figures to travel with us and invited the young, the inexperienced and the hopeful onboard. Every voyage was a happy one. We made brief ports of call in France, Italy and Russia, then Spain and The Lebanon. By issue ten we were well travelled. Poet and translator, John Manson and tri-lingual bard William Neill were regulars. Hugh Macmillan and Tom Pow came aboard for short trips and we loved all and every language we could pick up on the way.

I think at this time many onshore observers were expecting us to run aground. The previous magazine to leave port from Dumfries and Galloway, The Sou'Wester, lasted four issues. Markings was well into double figures, receiving SAC funding and local authority support: its cargo could easily slip, its crew get bored and mutiny or, worse, its followers, whether passengers contributing to each issue or those many many more just along for the ride that we call 'readers' might just jump ship and leave Markings high and dry.

One of our editors, Donald Adamson, left the country for personal and work reasons; a second, Elspeth Brown, moved to Edinburgh; Anne Darling became less involved due to health reasons; the workload became greater. Markings was already publishing pamphlets alongside the twice yearly magazine, so when the Scottish Arts Council asked us to up the ante and go perfect bound, the pressure was on and we all started asking questions. Was Markings becoming mainstream? Could it really navigate the deeper seas of real world publishing? Did we want to take this tack at all?

Five issues later we celebrated our tenth year with a double issue, twenty and twenty-one combined. Inside its two hundred and twenty-four pages were writers such as Kenneth White, Richard Price, Elizabeth Burns, Gerry Loose, Douglas Lipton, Sian Hayton, Vicki Feaver and Hamish Whyte. We launched this tanker of an issue from our new port, the poetry performance venue, The Bakehouse, to a packed house and a very big birthday cake. We also welcomed a new editor, the Artistic Director of The Bakehouse, Chrys Salt, thus cementing our commitment to performance and building on a long-established literary friendship.

Markings has gone on to carry extended features on writers such as the world-renowned poet and playwright, Bernard Kops; poet, songwriter and Times features writer, Alan Franks and, most recently, one of the significant figures in twentieth century Scottish letters, John Pick. Markings is just as proud to have had on board writers who have since become better known on the high seas of contemporary writing: Ken Cockburn, Stewart Kelly, Jules Horne, Andy Forster and even prouder to go supporting writers that, although little known, we feel deserve a place on the shelves of libraries, bookshops and homes, writers such as Rosemary Baker and Emma Strang both of whom live in Dumfries and Galloway but write of universal concerns with elegance, profundity and passion.

And what awaits the good ship Markings? The performance aspect of the magazine's activities is set to continue, especially as Chrys Salt’s involvement in the magazine has grown and deepened. Selected writers featured in our pages are invited to read at The Bakehouse. These have included figures such as Don Paterson, Tom Leonard, Libby Houston, Alan Franks, Adrian Mitchell, Michael Horovitz, Bernard Kops, Kenneth White, Pete Brown, Gerry Cambridge, Stewart Conn, Terry MacDonough, JB Pick, Kenneth C Steven, Hugh McMillan, Tom Pow and Dilys Rose to name but some. Our foreign travels, too, are set to take on a new life with sponsorship of writers to undertake residencies in France. The aim is always to broaden horizons, enrich our culture and challenge.

Today Markings feels better fitted to undertaken even longer voyages. Our friends and sponsors, Bibliographic Data Services of Dumfries, ensure that each new issue of Markings sails its way in a jiffy bag into every library service in Britain, representing excellent coverage for our writers and wonderful profile for us. More than ever before we want to voyage and explore and we want to take as many people, writers and readers, with us as is possible. All aboard!

By John Hudson