Stag Hill Literary Journal came into existence – as a glimmer of an idea – last summer, when I was thinking back on how much I’ve enjoyed working on various journals over the years. A couple of months later, I’d been planning to talk about my idea with some of the Creative Writing MA students at the University of Surrey (where I’m currently working on a PhD), when I ran into Stewart Ferris. I’d known Stewart from Monica Ali’s master class in creative writing, which we’d both taken the prior year. I told him about my idea for the journal, and the next thing I knew, he was joining me in the effort to talk about the project. Soon after that, we had a number of additions to our team. Stag Hill Literary Journal was born.

In this, the launch of our online journal, there are some special pieces. You’ll go along with James Soderholm as he contemplates the world from a vantage point in Margate where T.S. Eliot wrote part of ‘The Wasteland’; you’ll learn about the advantages – and disadvantages – of having dogs (especially too many) from Flo Heap; and you’ll envision Saima Afreen shaking the Baltic Sea from her hand. There are also stories, observations, and beautiful visions from: Jhilmil Breckenridge, Pieter Van Winkle, K. Alexandra R., Mark Finney, Trevor Datson, Emily Byfield-Riches, and Broc Silva. We hope you enjoy them all as much as we do. Please watch the website for more content, and stay tuned for the first of our bi-annual print editions, Issue 1, coming in spring 2018.

Best,

M.E. Rolle

Featured photo: ‘Stag Hill from Guildford Castle’ © M.E. Rolle