PublishED

By Chiara Hampton The new semester is upon us, bringing with it fresh aspirations and anxieties. Uni calendar dates may be arbitrary divisions of time, but these artificial beginnings provide excellent opportunities to seek out new experiences. Last September marked the start of my first year of university: an ideal moment to put down roots. As an English student, I was naturally drawn to literary organizations, among them PublishED. After their annual bookshop crawl, I joined the society and have attended every event since. You’ll have likely ascertained that my goal here is to encourage you to capitalize on this period of uni recalibration and give the society a try. Information about our events and the literary magazine we produce are readily available on this very site, yet they do not fully encapsulate the personal and atmospheric aspects of the society. Instead, this post is dedicated to (and here I accept the risk of drawing on the vacuous vocabulary of school boards and ur...

By Doe Charles It's that time of year again, the one where we pretend to do our revision whilst doing anything but. I, myself, am a master of this, my friends and family frequently hearing things like: what do you mean I don't have time to make an entire ballgown from scratch? You mean to tell me that now isn't the time to learn a whole new language? Guys, I don't think you understand how big a plot hole this is in Outlander, I mean, yes, I only know this because I've read five of the 1000 page books, but, still, don't you get it! 

By Chiara Hampton and Karolina Zentrichova There is much to look forward to during the holiday season: family gatherings, carols, the consumption of spiced desserts, and (gloriously) time to read. If you are struggling to create a reading list for the upcoming break, avail yourself of the suggestions compiled below. Although some relate more explicitly to Christmas than others (see #1), each book should hopefully prove a worthy companion on those cold winter days when venturing outside becomes a near impossibility.  

By Karolina Zentrichova Crazy deadlines, friend group drama and other life-related nuisances can leave a self-proclaimed passionate reader feeling guilty, as they realise they haven’t read anything in months. After a long day of uni-related reading, it’s completely natural to reach for your laptop and a few sneaky episodes of Brooklyn 99 rather than the 500+ page novel that has been recommended to you by multiple people... that just screams commitment. So what do you do if you miss reading but find it hard to make time for it? Here are some solutions that will provide you with your literary fix, but also leave enough time for your life and Netflix commitments.

By Chiara Hampton You need only to walk into a library to know that literature is vast. Similarly, for every copy you recognize in a used bookshop, there will be twenty cracked tomes you’ve never heard of. For lovers of language and literature, this expanse may feel both exciting and tragic – so many books, so few hours in a day (or even in a lifetime). Every novel we read is a choice. Some might approach the creation of their life’s library by curating a list of classics or must-reads to choose from. Others will whimsically pick up whatever catches their eye, whether this be a new release or a gorgeous 19th century cover. In both cases, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of reading within a restricted pool of tastes or genres. There’s nothing inherently wrong with becoming a master of science fiction or modern feminist literature; in fact, understanding the ins and outs of a particular area will undoubtedly lead to greater appreciation (plus you can stand in front of t...

Bookish People Talking About Bookish Things By Chiara Hampton and Karolina Zentrichova “How do I get into publishing?”: if you are an aspiring editor, illustrator, or simply an English student desperately hoping that your humanities degree will pay off, this question has likely crossed your mind. In order to shed some light on the topic, PublishED and Society of Young Publishers Scotland invited six professionals to speak about what happens behind the mysterious walls of the publishing house. If you couldn’t attend, fear not, we’ve got you covered. Here’s what you missed:

By Doe Charles Picture the scene: you're an aspiring writer; you've done the hard work, you've written your piece and you're ready to share it with the world. You sit down at your laptop ready to send it off to anyone you can think of, then you realise: "Damn I don't even know where to begin looking".