Minus 9 Squared Issue Two - Memory

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.

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