Gutter 08

Gutter is a leading Scottish journal of prose, poetry, and review. The latter comprise a small wedge in the centre of the magazine, offering a nice round-up of some recently published titles from independent and larger presses. However, it is as a showcase of the best new stories and poems that Gutter has made its name.

Published twice a year, this eighth edition features the usual blend of established and new voices, grouped together in small thematic clusters. These can range from pieces on death and loss, such as Anneliese Mackintosh's tragic and acutely observed A Rough Guide To Grief, right through to more illusory meditations on nostalgia and time, like AC Clarke's To Postwar Tinned Salmon. Zoe Venditozzi's excellent Wait and I Will Follow possesses a hypnotic otherness that circled this reviewer's mind for days afterwards.

Each piece is quite small – a few pages at most – and because of this a huge variety of content is squeezed into the 180 pages. Since its inception Gutter has grown to be the kind of broad and inclusive magazine of new writing Scotland needed. Couple the editorial nous with the sleek, uniform design and it is easy to see why a new Gutter is an eagerly anticipated event for anyone with an interest in Scottish writing, or writing generally.