Small press

In the current print edition of The Idler (58), David Collard ‘has a perfect day with Little Island Press and Gorse magazine.’ Collard, an early champion of Eimear McBride, wanders through Dublin (‘In Ireland at the end of September I spent a day that I wouldn’t mind repeating endlessly, Groundhog-style…’), taking in sites mentioned in Flann O’Brien’s Dalkey Archive, as well as the launch of David Hayden’s Darker With the Lights On. Of gorse, he writes:

Formerly co-editor of the online 3:AM Magazine, she took a break in 2013 and decided she wanted to create something of more lasting value that (like Little Island Press) challenged the ephemerality and transience of internet publishing, The following year she launched gorse as a showcase for ‘the unconventional and the under-recognised.’ She laughed when I asked her where her office was – she produces gorse from a desk in the corner of her bedroom, while editorial meetings take place in Kimchi Hophouse (Dublin’s oldest Korean restaurant).

The gorgeous gorse covers, designed by Niall McCormack, adorn a rich anthology of reviews, interviews, long form essays, poetry, graphic art and work in Irish. Contributors, not all Irish, include Claire-Louise Bennett, Andrew Gallix, Jonathan Gibbs, Niven Govinden, Simon Okotie, David Rose, Joanna Walsh, and many illustrious others.

[…]

I can’t think of a better literary magazine than gorse – it combines assured editorial judgement with startlingly original content.