Write Here, Write Now: Octavius Magazine

‘He finished looking at the glossy pictures in the programme and placed it in his father’s lap. This was his first time at a match (a night match as well!) and he wondered if his dad acted differently when he wasn’t around.

‘When the referee made a decision against their team, the other men spat insults regarding the man’s mother while his dad simply smiled and told him ’they can’t get it right all the time, son.’

Taken from Late Kick-Off, Ross Sayers, Octavius 2

If you study journalism – or even if you happen to mention you’re a little bit interested in the subject – many people will immediately ask: ‘So, do you write for the student newspaper, then?’ There is no such reaction if you mention an interest in creative writing: an awkward silence, maybe; an ‘Oh right... ’ muffled into a vodka and coke, most probably; or, if you’re really lucky, a ‘What? Like J. K. Rowling?’

There is a strange lack of assumption that if you’re interested in creative writing, you may actually want to write – out in the open, with a byline and everything.
We all studied journalism alongside creative writing at university, and were, quite frankly, scunnered with people not taking new writing seriously. We set up Octavius, a literary magazine for students in Scotland, not long after graduating, to help provide a platform for students who want to write and be published.

We recognise that writers have to work really hard to get established and it’s especially hard if you’re a young writer and you only have people to look up to, rather than people around you getting their names out there themselves.

So when you pick up a copy of Octavius you’ll find writing from your classmates, your friends, people in the same situations as you. And we think this is encouraging for writers.

There’s a great community in the Scottish literary scene and Octavius is a springboard into that world. As with most literary magazines, we aim to publish high quality writing that entertains, and with our previous two issues we like to think we’ve hit the nail on the head.

Previous Octavius-ers have gone on to be published in other literary magazines around the world, win funding to devote time exclusively to their writing, and even sign their own book deals. So by submitting to Octavius you’re taking a step in the right direction – as indeed you are in putting your work forward for publication across platforms.

And we know it can be daunting sending your writing off to a team of grammar-obsessed bookworms but really, we’re a friendly bunch and we have a fondness for parties and spoken word events too.

So if you’re nervous or afraid of submitting, either to us or any other platform for literature, be it poetry or prose, don’t be – it just takes the click of a button and it could be the start of something really exciting.