Why Ireland’s literary journals are brilliant stepping stones for emerging writers - Independent.ie

None of us foresaw how long lockdown would last or what the outcome would be. One unexpected result has been an increase in the number of people who have used the time to tap into their creativity and get writing. And to cater for the increase in output, there has been a surge in new literary journals and online publications.

Tolka, Beir Bua, Strukturiss, Riverbed Review and Sonder are just some of the new titles being created to publish, in a variety of forms, writers' experiences.

"The pandemic has given people permission to be creative and do something for themselves, writing about our own impressions. There has been so much experience of isolation and anxiety in lockdown, putting pen to paper helps to make sense of things, if only to express how we feel," says Claire Hennessy of Banshee Lit, who along with writers Laura Jane Cassidy and Eimear Ryan, produce "a selection box" of mainly women's writing.