The event took place at The Berkeley Suite, and I was so impressed with myself that I managed to follow a Google map to get there from the station. Yes, my navigational skills are really that awful. The free punch was really tasty, and the room was hot, filled with bodies, and decorated red, which was also rather fitting. There was a film of some short pieces from the volume, followed by some readings. Like I said, it was really hot, and it was busy enough that there wasn't a seat, so this writer who is prone to fainting sadly had to miss some of the event. Still, everyone looked like they were having a great time, and rightly so.
The journal itself is really pretty, which is to be expected from Freight Books. More than that, it's full of some fantastic writing (if I do say so myself!) I really enjoyed Graham Fulton's poems, and a lovely piece from Anneliese Mackintosh that I could identify with probably more than I should admit. And I enjoyed reading words from Libby McInnes, Roddy Shippin, and Alan Gillespie - so much literary greatness!
My own story is called Maps, and follows a twenty something Scottish guy as he travels to Thailand in an attempt to 'find himself'. It's so exciting to see my name and my words in print, holdable and feelable, in my hand. And I feel honoured too to be between the same covers as Ewan Morrison and Elizabeth Reeder.
You can find out more about Valve Literary Journal on their website, and they'll soon have details as to how to get a copy online. When they do, it's definitely worth getting one and reading it.
