Memory, All Alone In The Midnight... Hello and welcome the illusive Issue Two of Minus 9 Squared where we still know nothing about maths but we are evidently continuing the trend of quoting musicals on our opening page... It's been pointed out to me on many occasions that I have a bad memory. Some will say no memory which I find a little unfair. It's not that I have no memory, I just have a selective memory and choose only to remember the interesting stuff, which is only human really, isn't it? This theme could be accused of being misplaced - it may have served better as the theme for the very first magazine, a nice opening for a magazine, encouraging people to look back before the following issues would challenge them to look forward. Such is the universality of the theme that it's almost impossible to find people without contributions to make, meaning that once again there have been some whopping great headaches wandering around for the last few weeks, not least the issue of our front cover which was competitive to the extent that we feared some may lose limbs in the battle.
Competition was tight too for the remaining pages of the magazine and it is a testament to the talent out there that we unfortunately turned away enough work to make a second, equally impressive offering as this one you currently can't bear to tear your eyes from. Our aim for this magazine has and always wil be to showcase the artistry of people who feel their work should be seen. We thank all of our contributors for considering us as a sufficient showcase for your work and to those unlucky this time, we offer our condolences and ask that you persist and darken our email doorstep again for future issues. So that's the formalities dealt with for another issue. All I can say now, is sit back, hit zoom and enjoy the wonderful work this issue showcases. Anna Hayes Editor
About The Cover This months cover was designed by Clodagh Matthews, a 22 year old Multimedia and Creative Design student from Dundalk, Co Louth, Ireland. "I took the theme of memory and started to write down all the things associated with it: mind, brain, thinking, remembering, etc. Then I began looking through images for ideas. I didn’t want to go too cryptic as the mind is a cryptic enough thing as it is. At this stage I had the head with the thought bubble going into the head. It looked a little too plain so I started to make a list of what I would have to remember to do on a day to day basis, get up for college, eat, drink, sleep etc. I put these thoughts behind the image. Finally the head had no brain so I decided to use a cryptic way for the brain to be illustrated; as a mechanism, so I used the bolts and wheels to illustrate the working brain."
Contents Poetry: Places I Have Slept
by Jo
5
Tonight I Cannot See
by Paul O’Keeffe
6
Want/Fragments
by Shane Ward
12
Optimum Optare
by Michael Fogarty
13
This Was Three Long Years Ago
by Roisin Hackett
15
Grandad
by Ray Morgan
20
Annals
by Thomas Hawkins
21
Beacon Eyes
by Michael Naghtan Shanks
21
Ode 130
by Gerald Curtis
25
Untitled Poem
by Niall Flynn
26
The Ramblings
by Steven Brennan
27
Visual Arts: Some Giraffes Sleep Early
by Vasileios Kantas
5
The Day The Moon Falls Down
by James Wallace
6
Door of the Past
by Elli Chortara
8
Shadow Self
by Rachel Corcoran
13
Good Day
by Sam Szulc
14
Bad Day
by Sam Szulc
18
Untitled Image
by Greig Burgoyne
19
Peeling Back The Mind
by Shona MacDonald
27
Boys Painting House
by Justin Larkin
31
Untitled Image
by Michael Scanlon
31
Transport
by Sophie Mayer
32
Memory Map
by Zoe Buser
32
Roads and Cars
by Jan Carson
7
The Fisherman
by Monica Strina
9
The Chains That Bind Us In Memory
by Dave O’Donnell
14
The Man In The Half Room
by Jake C. Attree
16
I
by Jeremiah Ambrose
22
by Anna Hayes
28
Fiction:
POPE
Contour
Contributors
Theming Issue Three Like everyone else in the world, we at Minus 9 Squared sent our sympathies to those affected by the recent Icelandic volcano eruption, be it as a direct result of the volcano itself or the ensuing chaos that struck Europe with the imposed NoFly zones. It was amazing to watch the news and think that the whole of Europe was at effectively a standstill, and it got us thinking about the power of nature, as clichéd as that sounds…
This is the first theme we’ve picked which, essentially isn’t a theme at all, it’s more like a free-for-all. If you have work that fits a theme which you feel is relevant to the events surrounding this event then we want to see it. Submission Deadline will be updated on the Minus 9 Squared Wordpress site very soon so keep your eyes peeled and get your work in on time! Anna Hayes Editor
So as a tribute to those who endured trying conditions during this incident (and continue to in the intermittent ash cloud strikes since then) we have decided that Issue Three of Minus 9 Squared will focus on the themes surrounding the Iceland volcano crisis.
Want To Contribute? Looking For Us In Print? Email: minus9squared@gmail.com Follow Us Here: www.minus9squared.wordpress.com http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=342126916106&ref=ts http://twitter.com/minus9squared http://issuu.com/minus9squared http://www.ideastap.com/groupdetail.aspx?groupid=601