Insider: Structo magazine

Launched in 2008, the biannual literary magazine Structo features short stories and poetry from all around the world, alongside essays and interviews with authors and others.

Here’s editor and designer Euan Monaghan on the making of the new 15th issue, including philosophical dogs, a film soundtrack and endlessly browsing book cover designs.

In the making of this issue I…

Listened to
I actually mention this briefly on the masthead page: the soundtrack to the 2012 film Dredd by Paul Leonard-Morgan. Wonderfully melodic industrial tunes. Especially the first track, She’s A Pass. Also lots of Youth Lagoon.

Used
Trello. I’ve been gradually introducing a bit more structure into the organisation of the magazine as we grow, and this project management tool has been the backbone of each issue for the last year or so.

Got sidetracked by
The trouble with doing a feature on book cover design is that spending entire evenings scrolling pages of book covers is totally legitimate work. So many beautiful designs!

Worked from
Structo HQ, aka a small room at the top of a wonky Dutch canal house.

Sacrificed
My lunch breaks.

Went to
Actually I didn’t have to do much travelling for this one. There’s usually at least one long journey to talk to an interviewee – all the way to Portland, Oregon for issue 14’s Ursula K. Le Guin interview – but not this time. Jang Jin-sung happened to be nearby and we talked to the book cover designers via Google Docs.

Was amazed by
The tragic realities of life in North Korea, as described Jang Jin-sung.

Couldn’t stop laughing at
Our call for submissions this time asked for proof that writers had supported a literary magazine recently – we wanted it to be a submissions call with a difference. A number of the photos were hilarious, especially when they involved a very serious and slightly philosophical-looking dog posing with the latest issue of The MacGuffin.

Was most pleased by
The response to that call for submissions. The quality of stories and poems we received was so high that we’re doing it again for the next one.

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