Criticism, Analysis, Argument: The Ember flexes its bellows [02.08.2011]

The Ember was born out of a combination of enthusiasm and frustration: enthusiasm for reading, writing, thinking, arguing, praising and questioning, and frustration that the visibility and market-value of these activities seemed to be on the decline. Perhaps we were looking in the wrong places – but it seemed like some kind of twilight. With a gloomy sense of quixotic purpose, we decided to light a candle – or fan an ember – rather than curse the oncoming dark. So we brought our redundant commitments to the small circulation print ideals of the little magazine – attention to detail, faith in an engaged readership, a sense of possibility and a willingness to be out of step with the grander ambitions of our medium – and set up a modest stand in the grand bazaar of pixelated infotainment.

Of course, once we were set up and started to have a look around, we found the online arts media field was undergoing an electronic renaissance. From highly regarded individual bloggers to sleek collective e-zines and professional commercial ventures, there was plenty of new noise, plenty of light, plenty of heat. There was good journalism and good writing, but we still weren’t finding too much in the way of quality criticism that didn’t come with a price tag. Discerning readers will pay for a reputation, but we were in the building phase, so we needed to be freely accessible. With longevity in mind, we started out with a sustainable schedule. We’ve published one longish review, essay, or opinion piece every week for the last two and a half years. Quantity-wise, that’s about the same as a quarterly journal. In doing so, we’ve gradually gathered up a readership who know they can drop in a couple of times in a month and spend a bit of time with us. Now we’d like to offer them more, and more often.

We’re looking for writers with a clear style who are committed to ideas, language and the creative process.

From the critics, essayists and thinkers we enjoy reading, we know that good criticism can tell a compelling story. We also know that there is a web-based audience for engaged, thorough and thoughtful writing. Our focus has been on well-expressed argument and analysis, properly edited and presented in a conversational style. While finding our feet, we’ve favoured critical writing with creative sympathies. It’s where we’ve felt most at home. Now we’re looking to balance that tendency with its natural complement: creative writing with critical sympathies.

What do we mean by ‘creative writing with critical sympathies’? Well, it’s a definition that’s vague enough to include just about anything, and that’s the idea. We’re not ruling anything out. If you’re conscious of your medium or genre, and conscious of your audience and the effects you are hoping to achieve, you are probably a writer with critical sympathies. We’ll leave it at that.

Maybe you work in the culture industries, maybe you don’t. Maybe you’ve embarked on a research career but still want to share your expertise with a general readership, or maybe you are a disillusioned humanist looking to break the shackles of professional specialisation. Maybe you have an insider’s perspective, maybe you’re a disinterested observer. Maybe you are a published author, maybe you will be.

We are looking for philosophical or critical essays that appeal to the general reader; social commentary and non-fiction features on ideas, people and society; poetry and short fiction; long-format review essays on work that might be new or not; and casual reviewers to review new books, theatre, film, exhibitions and events.

Submissions will be assessed by an editorial panel, and accepted contributions will be edited and promoted to the best of our abilities.

For The Ember, joining SPUNC offered a way to get involved with a network of writers, readers and experts. To a large extent, the SPUNC network is probably representative of the greater portion of our readership. The membership also covers the sector of the Australian publishing industry we are most interested in writing about. Which brings me to the second thrust of this rousing communiqué: use us! Send us your press releases, previews, excerpts, etcetera. We’re on a recruiting drive for contributors, but we also want to make sure we’re hearing about what’s happening across the publishing spectrum.

Interested? Send submissions and enquiries here.

Nick Terrell is editor of The Ember.

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