Calling all non-doms

Well, first of all, thanks to everyone who has chipped in so far in our new Sponsor a Page campaign: we only launched it on Friday last, and we’re already covered for more than 11,000 pages of the next issue (only another 51,400 to go!), so we’re rather pleased about that (who knows, maybe we’ll even be able to eat this month). If you’ve somehow managed to avoid our begging letters, there’s more information here: www.penpushermagazine.co.uk/donate

We’re hoping for some media coverage to attract the attention of any billionaires looking to indulge themselves with a little literary philanthropy (well, you never know), but the lovely folks at The Guardian have beat us to it:

“Palmer's jibe about the economic expediencies of book production - literally cutting corners with one book to make the pages of another - is something that still rings true even in the age of the blogosphere. Ask the plucky folk at Pen Pusher magazine. Running a literary journal has always been a bit of a bouquet of barbed wire. But continually turning out a free print version of a literary journal today - ouch! Having established the magazine as a home for "those of you who are interested in words, writing, writers' lives, literary history, philosophy and the odd bit of silliness" in 2006, the financial reality of producing a free magazine of this ilk is beginning to bite. Turned down for an Arts Council grant because of "insufficient priority" (if someone - anyone - can decipher Arts Council speak for me, I will eat my blog), Pen Pusher's editors have gone back to the page. Literally. Rather than whingeing on about the unfairness of it all, Pen Pusher is hoping to raise enough to continue publishing by asking supporters to sponsor a page at tuppence a go. Having done the maths it looks like a feasible option - each edition has a print-run totalling 62,400 pages which adds up to £1,248 in total. Let's face it, there are a lot of two pence pieces in the world and there are far worst ways to spend a penny.”

Let’s hope JK Rowling’s reading …

Audiobooks for cheapskates

Long time no write I know, but this is worth the wait. A couple of months ago (in fact, round about the same time I last updated this blog, come to think of it) I finally got round to investigating the availability of audiobooks to brighten my trudge to work, and my slightly sprightlier trudge on the treadmill at the gym, and the slightly mesmeric activity of kneading dough on the rare occasions that I actually bother to make bread, which always seem to coincide with an Archers omnibus. Much to my delight, I found the whole of Vanity Fair on iTunes for free, thanks to the University of South Florida, and despite the (at first irritating) mispronunciations of various places and names (Berkeley Square is perhaps understandable, but I only realised that the enticing sounding “Voss Hall” that Becky and Amelia visit was actually Vauxhall when I was moved to research it, and as for the cla-RAY that Jose is so fond of swigging … but I digress. It is free, and I am grateful) it has entertained me for many long weeks and runs. However, although I have tried to ration myself, the grains of sand are running out for my friends in Russell Square, and so I eagerly logged on to iTunes to find out what else USF had to offer me. Sadly, mostly American classics, it turns out, which I already ploughed through during my US Literature paper. I despaired. I denied myself updates on the situation of the lovely Amelia, I pondered whether I could afford £30 for a reading of War and Peace. And finally I did a Google search for free audiobooks. Praise be, I discovered LibriVox (mission statement: “To make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet.” ) They have a VAST, and increasing number of out of copyright titles available to download, completely free of charge, so I’ve got the first three chapters of Mrs Gaskell’s North and South to look forward to. If I remember, I might even let you know how I get on. And they’re always looking for volunteer readers (all you need is a recordable MP3 player), so if you fancy yourself a bard …

Party ON!

If you didn't make it through the flimsy portals of the Pen Pusher Caravan on Thursday evening, the photos are now up on our website for your sniggering delight. From novelists to luminaries of the food and drink world, students to equity traders, we all had a jolly good time (well, at least I think we did. It must have been the unusual lack of posh yet melancholy gin, ditched in favour of common as muck beer, much to Hape's distress). Thanks to all for coming ... and let us know your thoughts on PP8's striking new look and even more striking content.

My Old Man, Said Follow the Van ...

Cor blimey guv'nor - it's issue eight! Come and join us at the caravan at Barrio North on the Essex Road, N1 to celebrate, Thursday, 24th January from 7pm, or pick up an issue next week and delve deep into the intimate memoirs of saucy Anaïs Nin, find out what John Hegley's favourite jam is, and make a bit of noise about the London Library.

A Happy New Year From Pen Pusher

So - what will 2008 (our third year!) bring? Well, the new issue is currently with our selfless and excellent sub, the lovely Helen, so that should be with us before the month is out, if the printers smile upon us. We're applying to the Arts Council for a little hard cash to help develop the website (our dream includes resources for budding writers, forums where people can discuss their work and that of others, and bags more stories, poems and features) and to fund professional distribution, so we can become a Proper Magazine. Plus we hope to pop up at a few more literary festivals (and you never know, I might even make one this year if you're bored of Hape and Anna's sweet faces).

In other news, I had a bumper crop of Mass Observation-related books for Christmas. Nella Last's diary (that which Victoria Wood based her dramatisation on), "Betty's Wartime Diary" and, most excitingly, an original 1939 Penguin publication from the Mass Observers (which advertises the forthcoming "Why Hitler is Dangerous" in the flyleaf). Bliss. Plus "The Inheritance of Loss", as reviewed in Pen Pusher, which I am already racing through. AND I found "On Chesil Beach" at half price while taking Alistair Campbell's Diaries back (my pa already had them), and Kerry Katona's memoirs for 25p on the bookshelf at the back of the church, so I'm thrifty too.

No, you're not dreaming, this is a new post

By popular demand, at least from within the Pen Pusher camp, the blog is back. Illness, overwork (did you know that 147 cases of death by overwork were recorded in Japan last year?) and sheer idleness (people can die from that too) have all contributed to its long absence, so enjoy it while you can - you never know when this deadly combination might strike again.

This week I have been thinking a lot about Christmas Books, it finally being Advent, a time to take stock of one' s life, perform acts of penitence and indulge in an orgy of panicky consumerism and binge drinking in preparation for the Christmas feast. The Guardian has published its annual collection of titles recommended by literary celebrities - Jonathan Franzen suggests The Peanuts Treasury, Antonia Fraser the memoirs of the Duke de Saint Simon, Seamus Heaney PV Glob's The Bog People, all pleasingly esoteric choices, none of which will appeal to any of the people I need to find presents for. From these to suggestions like "Dad will love John Grisham's new one!!!" (my family refuses to fit many of the holes necessary to render the less personalised buyer's guides useful - no one ever seems to say "Dad will love this book on Provencale rock fish cookery!!!"), I'm mildly at my wits end contemplating a trip to Foyles to rake through the shelves of things that aren't on promotion in the hope of finding the perfect book. Last year I bought everything secondhand at the book market on the South Bank, which meant that some people were shoehorned into their gifts, but which left me enough money to make them all some sloe gin to accompany their new dog-eared paperbacks. This year, I'm holding out for a couple of spare hours in an empty bookshop, albeit one that is neither overheated nor replacing its usual stock with 10,000 novelty "gift" books with vaguely rude titles.

That's another thing - who on earth invented the gift book? If you wouldn't buy something for yourself, why inflict it on someone else? I would quite happily shell out for some examples, like the ever dependable Schott's Almanac, which is the best thing to hit the bathroom since the flushing water closet, enabling you to come back to the dinner table armed with an array of fascinating facts guaranteed to kill all other conversation deader than the roast turkey, but can a guide for "naughty girls" by Tara Palmer Tompkinson really do anything but prompt the recipient to sell all their worldly goods and run away to join Medicins Sans Frontieres' work wherever neither you or Tara are sure to find them? Lazy publishing, lazy present buying. Perfect for me then ...

PP Seven Launch Party

A new season has swept into town, and that can only mean one thing: a brand new issue of Pen Pusher. In deference to the weather, Number Seven is a bumper fiction and poetry extravaganza: just the thing to curl up with in front of the electric two-bar, and to celebrate, we're having a bowling party! Only joking, actually we're having a party at a pub called The Bowler in Bowling Green Lane: white slacks optional. So if the inclement conditions have knocked you for six, come and join us from 7pm on Thursday, 18th October for fizz, nibbles and erudite chit-chat.

The Bowler
32 Bowling Green Lane (just off the Farringdon Road)
London EC1R 0BJ

Nearest tubes: Farringdon 5 mins
Angel 10 mins
Chancery Lane 15 mins