Magma 50

I was honoured to be asked to edit the 50th Magma, with the help of assistant editor Mary Tymkow. ‘Journeys’ seemed an appropriate theme for such a landmark issue, and our contributors sent us on a dizzying array of travels – there are commutes, honeymoons and dangerous assignments: a soldier returns from Basra, Rimbaud strolls into Bohemia and an unborn child decides whether to be born.

Alongside exciting new voices, there are poems from John Glenday, Neil Rollinson, John Hegley and Iranian poet Lily Mosini in collaboration with Clare Shaw. I’m very pleased to have articles by David Morley on Romani poetry, Sian Hughes on working with a poet in exile, and the Turner Prize Winner Jeremy Deller talking about Neil Young’s ‘Pocahontas’

To mark the anniversary, we sent some questions to poets who’ve been a part of Magma over the years – from those who’ve edited issues, like John Stammers, to poets we’ve encouraged from their earliest scribblings, such as Tim Turnbull. We hope you enjoy their responses – from recollecting favourite ‘Magma moments’ to advice for emerging poets and prophecies for the future…