Making the UK’s only magazine
We delivered The Fence to Stack subscribers in August, and last week deputy editor Kieran Morris spoke to our Magazine Club about the steady growth of this brilliantly strange magazine. I’ve often wondered how best to describe The Fence – it’s sort of a satirical magazine, but sort of not; it trades on a sense of gaining access, or information, but it does so in a way that keeps on shifting and changing its focus.
When I asked Kieran how they describe what they do, he turned to their strapline, “The UK’s only magazine”, saying that while he doesn’t quite know why it fits so well, there’s something about it that just works. He references magazines like Spy and Private Eye as inspiration, but he and the rest of the team are doing something that’s entirely their own, and listening to him speak, I realised that it’s driven by the team of writers and editors that have gathered around the magazine. I love the design of the The Fence, and particularly its use of illustration, but this magazine is all about the writing. In the video below, Kieran speaks about their process for writing and editing together, as well as all the other things The Fence does, including its weekly email, the rejuvenated Carbuncle Cup, an overhauled website, and a forthcoming book about pubs.
It was lovely speaking with him, so I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation. And of course we’d love to welcome you to a future Stack Magazine Club evening – all our subscribers are invited to join every month, for a behind-the-scenes look at the last magazine we delivered. Just sign up and we’ll start sending you a different independent magazine every month, along with an invitation to talk about it.
