ISSUE THREE: CONTACT
From the Lighthouse brings you our third issue surrounding the theme of CONTACT. After our last two issues focused heavily on the climate that has encircled our lives for the past year or so, we wanted Issue Three to look forwards. As life slowly starts to return to normal, contact is something that has been missed dearly. A simple handshake or an elongated exploration, as our pieces show, will symbolise a step out of the confinement that has restricted us for so long.
However, our contributors have showed us their talents once again by incorporating CONTACT in more ways than one. In a magical way, each written interpretation personalises a form of contact that is unique in its own form, creating a patchwork of memory, loss and hope altogether. We hope that through reading this, you will find your own interpretation of what contact means to you.
Enjoy,
From the Lighthouse team
Letters from the Editors
Lizzie Wilmot, Editor-in-Chief
To say that I’m proud of this issue is an understatement. In under a year, I have first handedly witnessed From the Lighthouse evolve into a successful and popular student publication and it is more than I ever could have hoped. As mentioned above, this issue is a particularly special one as it marks the turn of an outlook: focusing on the future and moving past the struggles that have dominated us for so long. The theme of ‘Contact’ perfectly encapsulates this and has been wonderfully interpreted in a number of ways by our talented contributors.
One of our priorities for this issue was to incorporate an illustration with each written piece, so for the first time, From the Lighthouse took on two illustrators. We felt that this was especially appropriate as the amalgamation of Tula and Maja’s work meant that the theme of ‘Contact’ could be explored artistically as well as literarily, as our cover image portrays.
As always, I would like to thank my team for their incredible efforts and continued dedication to this magazine. I’m also so proud that a few of you submitted your own work this issue - the literary skills that you each possess, whether they’re behind scenes or not, should be shown regardless. I am beyond excited to move onto our fourth issue in the next few months and to continue making From the Lighthouse the best it can possibly be.
Constance Lam, Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Throughout a hectic term of dissertation and coursework submissions, I am very proud of our editors, illustrators, and contributors for our immense efforts in publishing the third issue. Given our theme of ‘Contact’, our release date in spring is a highly fitting time as ‘Contact’ richly evokes the possibility of renewed connections.
Since working with From the Lighthouse, I have been surrounded by a community of highly creative and motivated individuals. In collaboration with Creative Writing Society, Poetry Society, and DUELS, we organised our first Writing Workshop, which was a success thanks to the invaluable guidance of these societies and our editors. While I thoroughly enjoyed editing the magazine for the past two issues, I was also inspired to challenge myself and write creatively again. I am honoured that one of my original poems, ‘Guazi’, will be featured in this issue: thank you to poetry editors Sarah and Josh for your helpful feedback throughout.
To everyone involved in creating this issue, and to all our readers, thank you for your support!
Isabella Newstead, Deputy Editor-in-Chief
It has been such a pleasure to work on this issue of From the Lighthouse! The submissions we receive never fail to impress me, and the fact Durham’s student body continues to produce such excellent creative work during something as turbulent as a global pandemic certainly says something. I had the honour of working closely with our illustrators again for this issue, wanting to aim for a collaboration between two illustrators to match the theme of ‘contact.’ I believe the beautiful pieces our illustrators have produced, side-by-side, really showcase this issue’s theme exactly as we intended. I hope you enjoy this issue!
ISSUE 3: SECTIONS
Edited by Ben Willows and Grace Brimacombe-Rand. Illustrated by Maja Kobylak and Tula Wild.
DRAMA
Featuring pieces by Natasha Ketel and Daisy Hargreaves.
Edited by Kate Blakely and Ryan O’Shea. Illustrated by Maja Kobylak and Tula Wild.
FICTION
Featuring short stories by Hannah Bowman, Jemima D’Souza, Emily Hare, Matilda Cox, Elise Garcon, Chris Vidler, Eliza Jones and Anna Johns.
Edited by Anna De Vivo and Martha Kean. Illustrated by Maja Kobylak and Tula Wild.
NON-FICTION
Featuring pieces by Lauren Powdrell, Jonny Ignacio, Sarah Henderson, Millicent Stott, Lucy Lloyd and Alexander Cohen.
Edited by Josh Allsop and Sarah Henderson. Illustrated by Maja Kobylak and Tula Wild.
POETRY
Featuring poems by Alexander Cohen, Emily Oliver, Anjali Mulcock, Constance Lam, Freya Williams, Justin Kim, Kathryn Ellison, Martha Kean, Ryan O’Shea, Sam Byrne and Sorrel Briggs.
Letters from the section Editors
Ben Willows, Drama Editor
Continuing to work on for From The Lighthouse’s new Drama section was a great privilege. Only coming into being last issue, our section has seen some top-notch quality pieces of writing. This issue, we get to see both a monologue and a dialogue, experiencing both sides of theatre in a time where we are tragically left wanting. The theme of contact is one that interests me in my own writing, whether it’s longing for contact lost, finding contact, or anything to be found in the middle of that. Whether it’s successful or not, whether we’ll act on it or not, we all have a desire to reach out to someone we’ve lost contact with. I think that all of the pieces, in the drama section and beyond, have perfectly articulated this theme in different ways. It’s been a pleasure to see how the drama section has evolved. Hopefully, this will give you a taste of the live performances that are, surely, just around the corner.
Grace Brimacombe-Rand, Drama Editor
Reading the Drama submissions for this issue, I was struck by the imaginative ways our writers have worked with the theme of ‘Contact’, a term that has been redefined for many of us this past year in more ways than one. The pieces that Ben and myself have selected moved me, creating a space to reflect on the kinds of contact we encounter and their role in our lives, especially when much of that contact is now digital or distanced.
Seeing a small part of the drafting process for these pieces in the Writers workshop was a great privilege, and I look forward to how the Drama section and the publication will grow in future issues to showcase student writing. Editing with Ben and working with the whole team has been a joy, and I hope that the diversity and ingenuity of pieces across all sections in this issue inspires our readers and resonates with their own experiences.
Kate Blakely, Fiction Editor
With another issue out, it is wonderful to showcase once again the fantastic talent of Durham’s fiction writers! Being fiction editor for a second issue has been a pleasure and, in certain ways, a challenge. As our magazine grows, submissions likewise have increased and with that an unfortunate requirement to send more rejections. As a writer myself, rejection is something I have come to be familiar with and this has made being on the other side of the process feel strange. It has been an isolating year and so, more than anything, Ryan and I have striven this issue to make all the pieces sent to us feel read. Published or not, we want all contributors to feel that they have gained something from writing for us. The strength of From the Lighthouse is its community, as opportunities like our workshop last term have made tangible. In this way, ‘contact’ as a theme has felt particularly appropriate for capturing what the heart of this magazine is about: coming together through writing.
Through Issue Three, it has been especially wonderful to bring new voices in Durham fiction to the fore and I’m really looking forward to reading the exciting work sure to come in future publications!
Ryan O’Shea, Fiction Editor
For this issue, we received an enormous number of high-quality submissions all of which riffed in different ways on the theme of ‘contact’. Whether it was through the fantastical or the real, all of the pieces found unique ways to explore both the physical and the emotional aspects of contact. Whether it is through the touch of a hand, the sound of another’s voice, an unfamiliar presence, or the absence of a loved one, the pieces in this issue consider the importance of contact in multitudes of situations – both the dramatic and the seemingly banal. Editing the Fiction section, alongside Kate, was a real pleasure – all of the submissions were thoroughly entertaining to read! We encourage those who were not accepted to submit again to the next issue! I hope that the reader finds these pieces as entertaining, exciting, and moving as we did – enjoy the issue!
Anna De Vivo, Non-Fiction Editor
In times where wider proximity with the world seems to be of the distant past, ‘Contact’ was a sudden change from our last issue, ‘Tension’. Yet, as we touch ground in what may be post-Covid times, we thought ‘Contact’ was the best (and most optimistic) theme to encapsulate this.
When reading the non-fiction submissions, Martha and I were delighted with the pieces we received. Each article beautifully grappled with the theme in exciting and diverse ways - I can’t wait for you to read them all.
Editing this issue alongside the team has been a wonderful experience! We hope these pieces offer some solace as we start to get back in contact with how things were before the pandemic - hopefully, for the better.
Martha Kean, Non-Fiction Editor
After over a year of virtual learning (and virtual living), the ability of our contributors to continuously produce such thoughtful and erudite pieces never fails to amaze me. Our theme for this issue is ‘contact’ and I think it is fair to say that after over a year of University with a lack thereof, finding the motivation just to do degree work can be difficult, let alone extra-curricular writing. It was fantastic to ‘meet’ some of our contributors over zoom during our writing workshop in Epiphany term; putting faces to names and hearing our writers speak about their initial ideas for the polished pieces that you can now read in this issue was so lovely. The non-fiction section is as eclectic as always. ‘Contact’ has been interpreted in a range of ways: the contact between literature and pop culture, narratives of colonial contact, metaphysical contact, and real-life contact as a result of literature to name but a few. It is an excellent read, so grab a cuppa and get stuck in!
Josh Allsop, Poetry Editor
As one of the poetry editors for the third issue of From the Lighthouse I’m over the moon with how this issue has turned out. We received so many phenomenal poems whether they were those that explicitly tackled our theme of contact, or simply had something to say which we couldn’t shy away from. Choosing our selection of poems is never an easy process, but the work which we’re presenting here really makes you proud to be involved with the ever-growing literary community at Durham University. We had submissions such as the absolute crystalline simplicity of Justin Kim’s ‘Smile and a Handshake’ which achieves so much through its wonderful titling in conjunction with the more traditional imagery of Haiku. We also received exceptional pieces specific to the North-East and Durham: Sam Byrne’s ‘Boats on the Wear’ and Kathryn Ellison’s ‘Gomorrah’ present the reader with achingly intimate bodily contact and dissolution on the banks and waters of the River Wear, and Sorrel Briggs’s ‘For the Girl on the Viaduct’ reminds us of the very present need to attend to our local environs, to not grown numb to the world that we walk through each day and in doing so care for one another. Our contributors all received editorial advice with grace, and I am not ashamed to say disagreed on some of the points that were suggested to them, but standing up for one’s own writing is so important and if they are willing to back a decision they’ve made, then as an editor I’m more than prepared to trust them. So, here’s to another successful issue exploring the creative potential at Durham.
Sarah Henderson, Poetry Editor
As the second chapter in my time as a poetry editor for From The Lighthouse comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on a process that has shown just how wonderful the Durham creative community is. When we chose the theme of ‘Contact’, we found ourselves scattered across the world, finding a way to connect with a sensory experience that we had previously taken for granted. We saw a group of poets, desperately longing for a phone call or a brush of hands or oars cutting the surface of the Wear. They used words to construct a feeling so tangible that we could almost imagine these experiences right before our very eyes. As always, it has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside my co-editor Josh and see just how much poetry can unite (and even divide) us! May this collection of poetry remind you of absent feelings and conversations, of childhood or the present time. Reach out and embrace it; find the point of contact with each one of these wonderful moments in poetic time.
And a few words from our Artists…
Natasha Ketel, Publicity Officer
Exploring ‘contact’ for our second issue of the year has been a delight. Not only have we explored some beautiful, delicate imagery of the human body in poetry but also understood how contact’ can contain social as well as physical meaning in fiction. This issue, I have loved getting the editors more involved in the social media, turning to them for top tips and inspiration on how to unpick the theme. After setting up our new twitter account and expanding how we use social media to promote our wonderful magazine, I can't wait to see what the next issue will bring.
Maja Kobylak, Illustrator
Reading the work of other students and reflecting how it made me feel onto paper, has been something I loved. To be able to share my interpretations and styles has been incredibly stimulating, slightly challenging and definitely worth it, so I’d like to thank everyone involved in the magazine for making this possible!
It’s so heartwarming to see people use their talents to make something special and as expressive as this!
Tula Wild, Illustrator
I’ve had a fantastic experience illustrating for From the Lighthouse. It’s not only given me the chance to reconnect with my art but also the chance to experiment with new mediums and push myself outside my artistic comfort zone. The team have been so encouraging and I am hugely grateful for the opportunity to use my passion to contribute to and be a part of this incredible issue.