People often ask me what BRAG means. I tell them (and this is true) that I’d love to tell them, but that my fellow braggarts would shake their heads. What I feel is more poignant than the sentiment behind a four-letter word, however, is how Manchester literary magazine BRAG ‘became’.
Mother Macs
It was a February, and the idea of a literary magazine had been sitting in my breast pocket for some time, notes scrawled on scrappy pieces of paper, and empty folders on my laptop. The need for a tangible, physical, print magazine based in the north was at the centre of my desires. This grew, and after much thought I extended the scope to a national and then international idea. BRAG is currently stocked in stores across Manchester and is available to buy on our online shop.
University Roots
As students of the written word, our editors have lively connections with the universities that they hail from. The majority of our team studied relevant undergraduate degrees at Manchester Metropolitan University, with our poetry editor being the odd one out having earned his degree at Newcastle University. In both establishments our members were lucky to grow under the wings of established talent, such as Andrew McMillan, Karen Solie, and Paul Evans (to name but a few).
Poetry
As a poetry magazine, BRAG has published the likes of Karen Solie, Paul Evans, and Louis Glazzard. Edited by our Will S. Barnard, BRAG has become a well-respected publication to submit poetry, seeing submissions from a global audience.
Short Fiction
The short fiction came into its own in Issue II with the introduction of Rebecca J. Barber as co-editor. Rebecca oversaw a shift in the overall tone of material in BRAG. As a short-fiction magazine BRAG has become popular with the likes of Nicholas Royle, who is reviewing us for his annual Best of British Short Fiction Anthology.
Smoke-Long Fiction
The idea for the inclusion of a smoke-long section in the magazine was that of Mr Nefarious himself. Kaolan O’Connor kicked off his popular corner of the magazine in Issue I with Smoke-Long Horror, and saw it evolve into Smoke-Long Paranoia in Issue II, which has carried into Issue III.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about BRAG, whether that be submissions or larger orders, don't hesitate to get in touch by emailing management.brag@gmail.com.