Cambridge has seen a veritable explosion of literary ‘zines in the last couple of years. Countless would-be-wilting-violets have crawled out from under their rocks to proffer precious verse to the Gods that be in hope of acceptance into the upper echelons of the literary underground.

Inevitably, not everyone makes the cut – hopes are dashed, dreams shattered, manuscripts burnt and the bitter howl of frustrated artistic endeavour fills the Cambridge night. However, a goodly number make the cut and find themselves elevated to the status of published artiste-de-verse.

Make it into one of these pamphlets and you’re on the high-road to Miltonesque acclaim, Byronic adventure, Hughesian notoriety and, with a bit of luck, the potent glamour of a Plathic demise. You’ll live forever in the hearts and minds of the delicate wallflowers that follow you.

The good news is that there’s lots on offer. These ‘zines serve as healthy playgrounds for aspiring writers and perusing one or two on a wet afternoon is a great way to see what tides and eddies are sweeping through the conscious of the Cam.

Between them, Volta, Pomegranate, The Hill and The Dial cater for a range of tastes and vary in their stringency of their selection. Here’s the low-down on what they’re all about.

The Dial
The original Queens’ Dial ran from 1907-1953. It was resurrected in 2008 to give space to the new, original and tough work which is the essence of student writing at Cambridge.

Last Michaelmas they ran their first issue of 200 copies, containing poetry and prose from students across the University. The magazine, distributed from Queens’ Porters’ Lodge went in two days. Since then, The Dial has come a long way. They are now expecting their fifth issue and the print run now runs to a circulation of 500. This Michaelmas (2009) their edition had a joint launch with The Mays Anthology and included readings by Dial published poets and writers.

Alongside the magazine, the Queens’-based Dial Society hosts well-attended poetry readings each term. Past readers have included Carol Watts, Rod Mengham, Keston Sutherland, Simon Jarvis, Tom Raworth and Ian Patterson. On January 29th they’ll be listening to Andrea Brady and Marianne Morris in the Erasmus Room of Queens’ College (for more information check the Facebook group). Look out this term for the launch of the first online issue.

Volta
Volta magazine grew out of the recently resurrected ‘Shirley Society’, Cambridge’s oldest literary society, based at St Catharine’s College. This year the society began holding weekly literary ‘show and tells’, always in somebody’s college room and always with the same instructions: “bring a poem or some prose: something you’ve written/ something you’ve read. Share it, or just come along and listen.” Producing a magazine was a way to record these discussions and to produce a forum for more sharing; “the piece of string between the tin cans”.

It’s a little handmade thing; inside a cloth bag you’ll find an assortment of square papers tied together by ribbon and interspersed with photographs on transparent paper, which lets the poetry underneath shine through. This writing is inspired mostly by experiences of and interactions with the city, with images and track listings to help replicate the multisensory encounter. It’s hoped each new theme and new magazine will set off equal meanderings through forms and styles.

To receive news about the magazine’s launch party, and to find out about the Shirley Society’s visiting speakers this term, join the Facebook group ‘volta magazine’, or email zm244@cam.ac.uk to request a copy.

Pomegranate
Pomegranate is a free poetry ezine dedicated to showcasing young writers, and run almost entirely by students at Cambridge and Oxford. The editorial team members were all winners of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year award in 2006 and met afterwards at the Arvon Centre in Shropshire on the week-long poetry course that was the prize. They stayed friends, and when they moved on to university they decided to found a magazine to help them stay in touch, and to foster a community of young writers across the two institutions and beyond. At the end of 2009, and after two years of an entirely DIY operation, the zine was awarded funding from Arts Council England for a complete redevelopment of the website, which went live on January 15th 2010.

Now as well as quarterly issues of the zine, there is also a blog, an index of resources, and a forum where members can workshop their poetry (in-between cups of tea and general chat, of course). The style of the featured poems is hugely varied – formal, free, funny, sad – as long as it’s striking and shows potential. And they’re gaining momentum; so far they have collaborated with PoetCasting in an audio issue, were featured in The Times and Popshot magazine. Pomegranate has frequently been the first to publish writers who went on to be picked up by Faber and Bloodaxe. Clearly, if you’re a poet, Pomegranate is the place to be seen. pomegranate.me.uk

The Hill
The Hill is a 64-page book, published termly, and printed in full colour on high-grade A6  paper with the best inks available. It has one objective: bringing the visual and the written together in interesting and evocative ways, without the usual contextual explanations which get in the way of looking at the thing itself. They publish what is good enough to stand alone, but also with the expectation that the reader will make their own connections.

The content, everything from charcoal sketches to cutting-edge graphic design, experimental poetry to short stories, is drawn from submissions from all over the Cambridge community including local residents, alumni and current students.
The editors design the covers themselves, by hand, making each and every one unique.Their first issue was painted, and the second issue is covered with sections of maps from places as far-flung as Java and St Albans!

The Hill has a completely open policy regarding submissions, and select by committee. For their next issue, for which they are currently accepting submissions, they will be showcasing their best writing and art in five student magazines across America.

You can buy issues 1 and 2 online at http://hillmag.bigcartel.com/ and submissions can be sent to editors@hillmag.com.

NOT YET
NOT YET, the black and white A5 zine, began in Michaelmas term 2008, and since then 2 issues have been released, with a third planned for the end of Lent term 2010. NOT YET differs from other Cambridge magazines in that it is free and an all-inclusive publication - nothing is rejected.

NOT YET seeks to be visually exciting and collaborative, with illustrators', photographers' and designers' work used in conjunction with other submissions to create a magazine that is really enjoyable and representative of all its participants. Past contributions have included music scores, extracts from a Chinese dictionary, collages, newspaper articles about camels, diary entries, cartoon strips, paper dolls and overheard conversations... NOT YET accepts anything two-dimensional enough to be wedged into a scanner. All submissions to crn26@cam.ac.uk