A lot can happen in a month, & a lot can happen in 3 years. Whenever something goes on hiatus, I feel like there’s often a large chance it won’t resurface again. The last time an issue of Minarets came out it was autumn 2014. 3 years ago I was severely depressed, living in Auckland w/ my mum & then boyfriend. I remember reading poems for the launch of issue 6 in a Mt Eden park on a chilly afternoon. Shortly after, Chris (who edited Minarets & Compound Press) left for America to pursue an MFA, & things went quiet.

Minarets had built up into an alternative DIY outlet that championed openness & intensity in poetry, with a focus on NZ but also including a few international writers each time. I am guest-editing this new issue from Melbourne where I live with 2 flatmates & a collection of fake plants. Even though I’m in Australia rn, there are a bunch of NZ writers I am excited & care about. I’m also glad to be in the position to publish a few Melbourne writers & bring their work to NZ audiences.

There are a few familiar faces in this issue who have been published in Minarets before. ppl wanting to come back after the hiatus makes us feel positive about its place in the community, & that it’s something worth reviving. Of course it’s boring tho when magazines publish the same few people over & over. Starting again w/ friends is good, & we can continue to branch out as things get established again.

So yes, Minarets is back, w/ the same spirit of openness & intensity going fwd, maybe even moreso than before, & I’m glad to be part of its revival.

Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle
August 2017

 

 

Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle is the author of Autobiography of a Marguerite (Hue & Cry, 2014). Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Sport, Landfall, & Best New Zealand Poems in 2011 and 2012. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern letters.