Art By Lucy Keegan
Publishing a literary magazine as a class project is no easy feat, but I can wholeheartedly say that it has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had. As with any group endeavour, we had our moments of trials and tribulations and only came out stronger for it.
One of our very first trials was answering the question of if we would instate a theme for the issue. Ultimately, we decided not to impose a theme and to see the variety of pieces that would come our way, and boy are we glad for it. While there were no designated topic requirements, we noticed many pieces center around identity, love of all forms, and the landscape of relationships, whether it be to the self, to another, or to nature.
One of our goals for this issue was to add a PDF version of the magazine, where we could show every piece of artwork, photography, and literature in one binding place. After many group discussions, a few words with online editorial tools, and lots of time spent deciding which pieces to go where for the best read, it is my absolute pleasure to be the first Issue to present a working and flippable, with a little sound effect and all, PDF zine! The wonderful cover art, a piece by Lucy Keegan, immediately struck our team; we are thrilled to have this piece as our cover art and represent Issue VI. This could not have been done without our wonderful creative team, responsible for all the various colour-coding, graphic judgments, and overall layout decisions: Catherine Jordan, Gavin Danaher, and Eve Brady.
While I had the privilege of being Issue VI’s Editor-in-Chief, this issue could not have gone as well as it did without the rest of the amazing editorial and managerial teams behind me. Our editorial team, the fearless readers of over 200 submissions, officially deserve the titles of professional readers: Emma Carlsson, Morgan Doyle, Aoife McLaughlin, Niamh Sheridan, and Catherine Jordan. Just as important is the wonderful social media team, the ones behind all the various Instagram stories and marketing: Chloe Gahan, and Rosie Maguire. What good is the hard work of a magazine if not for the end celebration (and the actual end product as well), fantastically assembled by our launch coordinator, Sebastian Wolfe. This issue would also not have been possible if not for our wonderful secretary who saved me many a headache, Katie Farrell, the ultimate e-mailer and organizational person.
Though we had an incredible team, we could not have done any of it without the guidance of Jonathan Creasy, our module coordinator. His guidance, kindness, and mentoring helped us publish the best magazine we could possibly have asked for — and keep to our time deadlines! I would also like to thank John Brannigan and the UCD School of English for their continual support in this process. Also, to Workams Club for hosting our launch night to celebrate all the hard work put into this issue of New Word Order.
Of course, none of this would be at all possible without all of our contributors. To each and every one of you, we have loved working with you and it is our privilege to be able to share your pieces with the world. To everyone who submitted to Issue VI: you made our editors’ job’s so hard, there was not a piece out there that we didn’t wish we could include, and we hope to continue to see your work in our inboxes. Lastly, every writer needs a reader, so thank you reader for choosing to spend a bit of your time with us, and we hope you enjoy.
Kylah Kennedy, Editor-in-Chief.
