Behind the scenes: We Are Dublin

After 14 years overseas, during which time he published magazines from Dubai and Kathmandu, Dubliner Conor Purcell returned to his home city in 2014 and founded We Are Dublin – a long-form postcard from the streets of the Irish capital.

Following the launch of the fourth issue, I caught up with Conor to discover the story so far, how he’s expanding the magazine’s readership, and why it’s important to publish new voices.

How did you first get into magazine publishing?
I started out working in newspapers and while living in Seoul, Hong Kong and Dubai I gradually started working in magazines. I really enjoyed the control of working on a magazine; newspapers seem to be far more reactive – you are waiting on events to happen and you have to cover those events. Magazines on the other hand can be created in any way you want and I really liked that freedom.

While in Dubai I started publishing a travel magazine, We Are Here, which focused on one city per issue, mixing quality long-form writing with low-fi smart phone photography.

After 14 years abroad I returned to Dublin and saw that there was a gap in the market for a magazine that wasn’t too commercial nor too literary, a magazine that told stories and was nicely designed and printed. So We Are Dublin was born. It was also a great way for me to get to know the city again.

What do you look for in the stories you publish?
I want stories that interest me, because if they interest me, I hope they’ll interest others too. I want to tell stories about Dublin and explore the things that make the city unique. I’m not trying to present Dublin as either a really great place, or a bad place – I just want to share stories that maybe have not been told elsewhere, about places and things that people take for granted.

Who are the writers?
The writers are usually from Dublin or live in Dublin. We have had novelists like Rob Doyle and Caitriona Lally write, as well as journalists, essayists and people who write as a hobby.

I wouldn’t be interested in bringing in a journalist with a complete outsider perspective, but in issue three I published a story by German Marcel Krueger who wrote a piece on a Nazi spy who lived in Dublin during the Second World War. He lived in various safe houses across Dublin, including one in Templeogue a few minutes walk from where I grew up. It was an interesting story and one I knew nothing about so it was great to be able to publish it.

How has the magazine evolved since you started?
I’ve fixed up the design here and there and worked to make it more accessible. I’ve been very conscious about bringing in new writers, as I think it’s easy to end up publishing the same writers issue after issue. This issue includes a piece called Love Me Tinder by Kelly O’Connor, who had never been published previously. It’s a great piece – it’s very different from the sort of thing I usually publish, but she has a really fresh voice.

Why do you think stories about Dublin have an appeal to readers outside of Dublin?
I am not sure they do! I sell copies online to people around the world, but they are mostly Irish people abroad. The magazine is focused on Dublin and I am happy to sell mostly in Dublin – I don’t have any plans for global expansion yet!

I’m continuously working to expand our readership, and as part of that I’m planning to do more offline stuff. I am currently talking to some people about different types of events and hope to start doing that over the summer. I am also about to launch a workshop for people interested in making their own magazine. I am writing a book on it at the moment and have learnt a lot from other magazine makers, as well as from my own experiences, so I’m looking forward to being able to pass that on.

Do you reckon you’ve settled down in Dublin now?
Well, I bought a house, but I won’t stay here forever.  I’m definitely going travelling again at some point.

Would you take We Are Dublin with you and change the name?
Yeah, definitely – I’d love to do a We Are Hackney!

So where do you see We Are Dublin in a couple of years?
Same, but better! And of course, it would be great to be able to make a living from it at some point. But I think the main thing for me is to create a magazine that, when you look  back at it in 10 to 15 years, it says something about a specific time in Dublin.

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