editorial

Hello and welcome to issue 83 of The Interpreter’s House.

Please forgive me if this is a particularly long editorial; there is a lot to pack in. Around a year ago I made the decision to step aside from my role as Editor of the House, which means that I’ve had a goodly amount of time to mull over what to write in this, my final editorial.

And yet.
Did I draft it?
No.

In the time-honoured tradition of writers everywhere, I have left it as close to, or indeed beyond, my (self-imposed) deadline. Because I’m not so good at saying goodbye? Perhaps. Because I’m a control freak? Possibly. Because it’s wonderful to work here, reading brilliant poems and stories that inspire me to write more? Yes, definitely. Because alongside Lou and Lizzie, I feel all the benefits of being part of a visionary team who care deeply for the work and for all involved? Without a shadow of a doubt. And yet it’s time to go. Finally I’ve finished the longest PhD — officially it took six years but was over twenty years in the making — and now there are new professional projects in the heady world of Medical Humanities for me to take on. Not to mention that fact that I am deeply excited about having more time to spend on my own writing. In my notebook there are scrappy notes towards not one, not two, but er, five, new books and one anthology. Maybe this year I can get at least one of them started?

When I took on the Editorship of The Interpreter’s House in 2018, I set a couple of goals in addition to the non-negotiable of publishing only the very best poems and stories. In a time of economic uncertainty, I wanted to bring the magazine online and democratize this corner of the poetry landscape, keeping it free for submitters and making it free to read, all the while building a financially sustainable infrastructure. And finally, over the past couple of years, we’ve got there. I owe my deep heartfelt thanks to everybody who has ever donated; whether coffee-sized tips or triple digit gifts, your money has enabled us to keep going and now I’m in a position to hand over the magazine without a nagging guilt that I’ll drop the new Editor straight into a financial black hole. That said, it is ongoing donations that keep the lights on for our website, so if you can, no contribution is too small (or too big).

Furthermore, and of equal importance, I wanted to create a working environment that nurtured the wellbeing of everyone at the House, editors and contributors alike. I had been badly burned by an actively harmful working environment prior to my involvement in the magazine and wanted to create an atmosphere of respect, inclusion and understanding. Everyone who works at the House does so by volunteering their free time in spite of all the pressures of jobs, studies, and home lives, and yet I believe that we have been able to adapt and support one another through some challenging times. Thank you, Lou and Lizzie, for your many gifts of precious time, friendship and good humour.

Everyone who has held an editorial role here is also a poet or fiction writer so we’ve felt the sharp sting of an offhand rejection. Accordingly, it has been our policy always to respond warmly to submitters regardless of the outcome and not to offer unsolicited advice. (However, I make no apologies for my curt response to the hugely inappropriate and badly written Nazi-porn submission that we received once.)

Of course, I have not been able to achieve these goals single-handed so I want to thank, in almost chronological order:

• Andrew Wells who joined as Assistant Editor back in 2018 and was responsible for our website design. The sharp, clean look of your page design still receives compliments from readers — thank you, Andrew!

• Annie Rutherford who came on board as a short term favour to help manage the increasing fiction submissions and ended up staying for years! I will always be grateful for your rigour and editorial expertise, dear Annie.

• Lizzie Fowler who took on the mantle of Fiction Editor from Annie and has brought literary ambition and sensitivity to the role. Our fiction submissions have gone from strength to strength under your management — thank you. Like me, Lizzie is also moving on from the Interpreter’s House; she has taken up a new role on the Committee for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators British Isles and Europe Undiscovered Voices Competition, and is also editing her recently completed novel manuscript. Every success awaits you, Lizzie!

• (And here is where my chronological ordering falls apart) Louise Peterkin, who joined as Poetry Editor for issue 73 and immediately made herself indispensable. You have such a keen eye for good poetry and, even when buried under a pile of hundreds of subs, show such genuine love for the form. For your keen eye, your friendship and your wit (both metaphysical and comic) thank you, Lou.

• Every reader and every submitter over the past seven years. There are hundreds of you and each one of you — Nazi-porn guy excepted — is deeply appreciated. The Interpreter’s House literally wouldn’t exist without your love of literature and your talent. You inspire me to keep writing.

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to our regular readers that Louise will be taking over as Editor-in-Chief. There is no one else who I would want to adopt this baby. (So yes, I am a control freak.) There are many more things to be done at the House and new directions to take. I look forward to seeing which paths Lou chooses when she assumes the role with issue 84. Being mindful of our commitments to nurturing and supporting one another, Lizzie and I will still be here in the background during the transition, while Lou establishes her new team. You’ll probably see us responding to some subs in the next issue or two, but this is our official goodbye.

Wishing you happy reading of this corker of an issue. The past few months have been a perfect storm of old and new responsibilities for me; hence this issue being a few weeks late. Yet, the extra work(over)load has been entirely worth it to bring these marvellous poems and stories to light. Happy reading also of the issues to come under the excellent stewardship of Louise Peterkin and her team!

Georgi x