As the Dublin Reviewcelebrates a decade of the cream of Irish writing, Rosita Bolandtalks to editor Brendan Barrington about his 10 years at the helm of a literary labour of love
THIS WEEK, the critically praised Dublin Reviewpublishes its 40th anniversary issue, with a celebration at the National Library tomorrow night. Launched a decade ago under the editorship of Brendan Barrington, the paperback-sized literary periodical, with its distinctive typographic cover, has been making an impact right from its first issue. Anne Enright, who went on to win the Booker Prize in 2007, contributed an arresting piece to the winter 2000 launch issue entitled "Birth in Dublin" which was the genesis of her later bestselling book, Making Babies; Stumbling into Motherhood.
The 40th anniversary issue bookends the decade by featuring another piece by Enright; on childbirth in fiction, and readers’ reaction to her own contribution to the subject. It also carries a “questionnaire” throughout the issue: 10 questions put by the Review to 11 writers whose work it has consistently featured through the decade; Enright, John Banville, Colm Tóibín, Belinda McKeon, Andrew O’Hagan, Molly McCloskey, Elif Batuman, Amit Chaudhuri, Michael Faber, Claire Kilroy, and Roy Foster.
Among the eclectic questions posed are: Has any book published in the past 10 years, in any genre, changed the way you see the world or your sense of what is achievable by literature; Please describe the place where, at some moment or period in the past 10 years, you were happiest – not (or not merely) in yourself, but in your surroundings; and Do you read e-books? If so, please tell us about it. If not, do you anticipate doing so within your lifetime? With enthusiasm or merely by necessity?
To this last question, academic Roy Foster answers in six words “I haven’t evolved that far yet.” Andrew O’Hagan replies: “The thing is here and I’ll get used to it.” Elif Batuman writes: “Yes, I have a Kindle and e-books have changed my reading habits a lot in the past year. For example, I now buy books almost exclusively while drunk.”
Barrington, whose father was Irish, grew up in New York and moved to Ireland several years ago. Initially, he worked for Lilliput Press. He now works part of the week as an editor for Penguin Books, and the other part editing the magazine. While still at Lilliput, he started thinking about launching a literary magazine that would have what he describes as “rigour” as its watermark: rigour in its editing and in the quality of its contents.
“I spent a lot of time in Dublin looking for literary magazines and periodicals, and not finding what I expected to,” he explains. “Nothing that was reflecting an Irish point of view.”
The result, with the help of Arts Council funding, was the Dublin Review. One of the differences the funding made was that the magazine has always been able to pay its contributors what Barrington describes as "a decent rate for their work. I wanted every kind of writer to feel writing for the Dublin Reviewwas part of their professional life."
The Reviewhas a circulation of 1,000 every quarter. There are some overseas postal subscriptions, but most magazines go to a domestic readership.
"The print run is something that one occasionally gets depressed about," he admits. "And then I think about the circulation that the Paris Reviewhad in the 1970s when it was meant to be its heyday, and they had tiny figures too."
In addition to the 10 writers featured in the questionnaire in the current issue, other contributors over the decade have included Dervla Murphy, Paul Muldoon, Brian Dillon, Ed O’Loughlin, Kathleen Jamie, Declan Kiberd, Selina Guinness, Vona Groarke, Ciaran Carson, Diarmaid Ferriter, David Wheatley, James Ryan, Catriona Crowe, Justin Quinn, Greg Baxter (and this reporter).
If Barrington had to define the periodical to someone who hadn’t yet read it, what would he say?
“A place where all kinds of prose writing can be at home – provided it is of the highest quality. More specifically, we publish non fiction, long form non-fiction, essay, memoir and reportage. It’s the essay, broadly defined. We’re trying to publish pieces that go deep.”
So what of the future challenges for the Dublin Review?
Barrington confirms that there are no plans to change the format, type of content or number of issues per year, but he is actively looking at ways of developing the website and tapping into social networking to grow readership.
“The main challenge is about connecting with readers in new and different ways.” The magazine is not yet on Twitter, but Barrington admits – albeit hesitantly – that this is something they are currently considering doing to reach readers.
What is his modus operandi for inclusion in the Review?
“There are roughly three categories. There are pieces that I conceive in my mind and then approach a writer and ask them to do it; pieces that arise almost organically over conversations with writers over time; and submission from the standing army of unpublished writers who are hoping to become published writers.”
Barrington has gained a reputation over the years as being an exacting, meticulous – some say fastidious – but profoundly loyal editor to his writers. How would he describe himself as an editor?
“Thorough, I think,” he answers with smiling certainty. “Sometimes to a fault. I think I’m ambitious in that I’m usually not satisfied with a piece that’s perfectly fine. I’m always looking for little ways of making it better. Sometimes that means cutting things out of it but other times it means sending the writer away to develop or clarify or sharpen something. Editing feels a little bit like archeology or sculpting, working with a big piece of granite, and chipping away at it.”
What reaction does this provoke from writers? “I frequently get comments to the effect that ‘I’ve never been edited like this before’, and sometimes one might sense a slight edge of irritation. But mostly it’s positive in that good writers enjoy being edited. They enjoy the interchange. They may not agree with all my ideas and that’s absolutely fine, but the encounter is valuable, and they value it.”
For Barrington, the best element of working on the Reviewis "working with writers. It's always been the thing I've loved best."
The
Dublin Review
, Number 40, Autumn 2010 is out now
What they say about the Dublin Review
The best magazines are not just the product of their editor's tastes and curiosities, but of the time and place in which they were made . . . The same may be said of the young
Dublin Review, founded in 2000, which feels pleasantly pickled in brine."
The New York Times,2008
You never know what you're going to get, but you can be certain there will be a few gems.
Irish Independent, 2007
The Dublin Review. . . has established itself as an Irish institution.
The Guardian, 2004
On the evidence of its early issues, the particular distinction of this new
Reviewis to combine the critically serious with the creatively readable.
The Times Literary Supplement,2002
