Anyone who has checked out any of our Author’s Pages on the What We Have Written section of this website will see that a lot of our members have been published in a magazine called Ironstone. Since Ironstone now only seems to be available on this website, and even then only issues 2 and 3, we thought we should include a brief history of a magazine that was once the corner stone of new writing in West Lothian.
Ironstone 1
In 2005 then West Lothian Writer in Residence Magi Gibson launched Ironstone. The aim of the magazine was to support new writing in West Lothian by giving local writers the chance to see their work in print. From the start our members were getting pieces published in the magazine including John Garth Wilkinson.
Ironstone 2
A second Ironstone magazine appeared two years later. Bigger than the original the editorial team increased in size with Grace Cleary, Ellie Stewart and Emma Mooney joining Magi. The magazine also increased in size with additional sixteen pages added bring the length to sixty six pages. John was published in Ironstone 2 along with Eric McFarlane.
Ironstone 3
There was a break of four years before the third edition of Ironstone arrived in 2011 with the same editorial team as last time but without Magi who had moved onto new projects by then. The third edition saw a range of new writers to the magazine including our own Anne E. Edwards, Jenifer Harley and Norman Geddes. As you would expect by now John was back for his third appearance while Eric was making his second.
Sadly the third edition of Ironstone was to be its last, however over the course of six years it was the go to place for the best new writing in West Lothian. Below you can download issues 2 and 3 for free and enjoy at your pleasure. We are looking for an electronic copy of the first issue at the moment.
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