New literary journal for Westmeath

A new literary journal in Westmeath opens for submissions in February. Sparks Literary Journal seeks to publish poetry, flash fiction and short stories that ‘spark’ the imagination, whether they are stories about aliens or about a run to the shops.

Chelsea Bright, founder and chief editor of the new journal, said: “We have no restriction on type or genre. Unlike many literary journals, we’re not bothered how literary in style it is. Once it is a story that sparks the imagination and rivets the reader, we will be interested in publishing it.”

Chelsea is a writer from Westmeath, who, dissatisfied with the current literary landscape in the midlands, decided to found a journal that would be located firmly in this area and foster more literary engagement with writing from the area, and with writing from authors from all across the island.

She writes prose and poetry and has been writing fiction for a decade. She has written several novel manuscripts and hopes to be published in the not-so distant future.

She also writes in a wide array of genres, but she particularly enjoys writing fantasy, commercial fiction and action; her reading tastes are wide, and she enjoys a good ghost story as much as the next person.

The ideas that grip her as a writer are stories that spark the imagination, and that was the inspiration for the journal’s ethos and title. Chelsea recently completed an MA (Master in Arts) in Creative Writing, coordinated by Belinda McKeon, at Maynooth University.

Sparks is located in Westmeath, and seeks to showcase writers from the midlands, and from all over the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“We also highly encourage submissions from writers from underrepresented communities in the Irish literary scene and in Irish society as a whole,” said Chelsea.

Contact Sparks Literary Journal: submissions.sparkslit@gmail.com; see sparksliteraryjournal.com.