Guts came about because I was fed up working with what felt like the stalest of all art-forms. Every new initiative that captured people's imagination seemed to belong to a sphere that was unrelated to writing or that treated it as a secondary element – writing always felt like the wallflower at the party.
Guts is a collection of confessional writing and personal essays combined with illustration. It's a bi-monthly magazine that applies blogging culture to a print format to tell highly personal and self-exposing stories – because we reckon people have developed an appetite for this kind of voyeuristic reading.
That’s where the idea of confessional writing came from, and even where the title comes from – spilling your guts or having the guts to do something. It was a joke at first, but it stuck.
A lot of the writers and journalists I know have to remove themselves from the subject they’re writing about for their work; we wanted to put them back at the centre of the story. We also wanted to give something literary the slickness it deserves – we have the best illustrators around to work on it, we’ve designed the type and writing so that it’s fun to physically read, and we’ve done everything we can to present the stories attractively. It’s having fun and not being snobbish with the literary value of the work while also involving some excellent writers.
In confessional writing, there’s an art to how much you reveal about yourself and the character you create as a writer. It’s a story-telling tool.
What I like about it is that it makes the writer the protagonist of the story. It elevates the writer to being the subject. RÓISÍN AGNEW The first issue of Guts, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter: Heartbreak and Bustups, is out now. thisisguts.com Free cash for art It may be the season for giving, but it's also the time of year where everyone is feeling the pinch – yet if you're a starving artist, there's no need to go hungry in 2015.
The deadlines for several bursaries are fast approaching, so if you’re in need of some funding, read on. The Bank of Ireland Catherine Judge Memorial Award donates £5,000 (or its euro equivalent) to young musicians who would like to continue their musical education at third level.
It’s open to solo musicians who have achieved a Grade 8 standard , and the closing date for entries is January 12th via boicjma.com.
One arts scholarship worth €38,000 is available for a person aged 18-30 from the Republic of Ireland via Sky Academy in partnership with arts charity IdeasTap. It’s open to artists in all disciplines, and the application deadline is February 26th; see sky.com/academy/ scholarships for more.
The Pavilion Theatre in Co Dublin has also announced a series of bursaries across all disciplines, woth up to €5,000. Applications are open until January 16th. See paviliontheatre.ie.
Finally, deadlines for a number of bursaries by the Arts Council arrive in early January, and will award recipients up to €10,000 in their chosen field. Most close on January 22nd. Apply via artscouncil.ie/ available-funding.
