Help fund The Aftershock Review Poetry Magazine

The Aftershock Review is not just another poetry magazine—it is a platform amplifying voices too often silenced. We publish work from those who have experienced trauma firsthand—poets navigating psychosis, PTSD, cancer, displacement, racial injustice, and gender struggles. This isn’t just about poetry; it’s about reshaping who gets to be heard in contemporary literature.

After trauma, what next? An aftershock is coming...

"Now more than ever we need The Aftershock Review – the perfect magazine for our traumatic times." – Pascale Petit

Submit poems here: https://duotrope.com/duosuma/submit/form.aspx?id=Eioj2Z4-RV8pF-HRijUuw

The Aftershock Review is a new poetry magazine committed to showcasing exceptional work that grapples with the aftershocks of trauma in its many forms. But this isn’t just catharsis—it’s about great poetry. We believe that poems about trauma don’t have to be traumatic. Poems about new love, new want, new desire are here too. Humans are humany, and all that comes with it. Poetry about trauma can be nuanced, tender, sharp, or even playful. Above all, they should push the boundaries of language and form, showing us what poetry can do. And they can be BRILLIANT.

You are supporting our mission to be a leading publication for poetry that examines the aftershocks of lived experience with precision, imagination, and artistic integrity. We look for work that challenges the narrative of trauma as simply pain and explores it as a complex force that shapes, complicates, and enriches human life. 

Poetry has the power to transform how we see the world—and ourselves. Monies raised - in conjunction with an Arts Council bid - will fund the first issue of the magazine as well as subsequent issues and a pamphlet series.

MAX'S STORY:

"After almost dying, there was only one option in front of me: to survive. But not just that, to thrive. This is a celebration of that. This is my manifesto for living. 

With over 40 confirmed names, our lineup is wildly inclusive and diverse, featuring individuals aged 17 to 93. It includes multinational poets, as well as those who are disabled, neurodiverse, LGBTQ+, and represent all income strata. 

We also have BIPOC voices, voices from those who have lived with psychosis, and people who have been affected by terminal illnesses in their lives as well as those with other hidden disabilities among our contributors. I believe these are voices that need to be heard. Their poetry is proof of that." 

– Max Wallis

Max Wallis, writing for The Evening Standard, June 2024, about his mental health crisis and why he left London, returned to his hometown Chorley and to his love of poetry.

GOALS 

Our goals are huge. It starts with our magazine, The Aftershock Review, which features new poetry by Hugo Williams, Pascale Petit, Gwyneth Lewis, Joseph Fasano, John McCullough, Paul Stephenson, and many more. New voices sit alongside established names looking at the nature of their personal aftershocks and a wider world at sea. 

The Breakdown

Printing (500 Copies) Cost: £1,000-1,500 

Every magazine is a testament to the poets and artists we feature—a carefully crafted artifact that celebrates their work. This print run of 500 copies ensures that The Aftershock Review reaches readers, contributors, and stockists who share our vision. 

Editorial Fees (Waived for Issue One) Cost: £0 

To prioritise the success of Issue One, the editorial team are working for free. Every edit, email, and decision is powered by our belief in this project and what it can achieve. We've even designed the cover and typesetting the text ourselves, too! 

Postage & Packaging Cost: £1,750 (£3.50 per copy x 500 copies) 

We want The Aftershock Review to arrive safely in the hands of readers, contributors, and retail outlets across the world. This cost ensures we can deliver each copy with care and precision. 

Marketing & Promotion Cost: £800 

To reach the widest audience possible, we’re allocating funds for digital promotion, social media ads, and website maintenance. Your support helps us build a community of readers and writers who believe in the power of poetry. 

ISBNs and Registration Costs Cost: £350 

Securing ISBNs ensures the magazine is officially registered, cataloged, and eligible for distribution to bookshops and libraries. This also covers legal deposit requirements and related fees. 

PR Costs Cost: £500 

Professional PR outreach will connect us with journalists, reviewers, and literary influencers to ensure The Aftershock Review gets the attention it deserves. This includes press releases, media kits, and strategic placement with literary outlets. 

Miscellaneous/Contingency Fund Cost: £500 

This small buffer ensures we’re prepared for unexpected challenges—because no creative project is without its surprises.

Why It Matters

Our goal is to become a small press that creates, well, aftershocks, with additional titles devoted to themes such as ecopoetry, madness, queerness and more. 

WHO ARE WE?

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Max Wallis is an award winning poet and journalist whose first book, Modern Love, was shortlisted for the Polari Prize. Widely published by the likes of The Spectator and The Rialto, Max was once called a poetry wunderkind by David Hoyle and Curious Arts Festival... before he became an alcoholic and addict and got lost in a forest of dizzying darkness. Clean and sober, Max has funnelled his creativity into creating The Aftershock Review a magazine for the best writing about trauma. His goal is that the Review will receive enough funding to become The Aftershock Society, a press and outreach program that helps those who live with trauma through workshops, outreach and a curated list of poets on all forms of worldly trauma. 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Suzi Feay, previously Independent on Sunday's Literary Editor, judge of the Polari Prize, celebrated journalist, literary critic, and poet published in Poetry Review and other leading magazines. 

Anna Percy, co-founder of the Stirred collective, Anna has received recognition for her contributions to performance poetry and writing workshops across the UK. She is completing a PhD called "Bipolar Magpie: A 21st Century Embodied Eco-Feminist Poetics". 

TESTIMONIALS

"Independent literary journals are the lifeblood of a culture, a forum for honesty and conversation and transformation—and beauty. And we need all those things to survive. Aftershock deserves to be heard." — Joseph Fasano 

“Max Wallis is an incredible poet and I’m so excited about Aftershock! Such an astonishing thing to dare start a new magazine. This one is focused, timely and much needed. The production quality and design already look incredible and I’m certain that editing and curating will be sharp, insightful and thought-provoking!” — Paul Stephenson

“As a new literary journal with high production values, publishing exceptional submissions with care and attention to detail, and holding space for works that engage with trauma through inventive and nuanced writing, Aftershock is a much-needed initiative. Having observed Max Wallis’s growth over the years, from his early participation in the Barbican Poets programme to the publication of his debut pamphlet and beyond, I’m confident that his vision and sensibilities will ensure Aftershock becomes a vital and transformative platform.” — Jacob Sam-La Rose

Please, if you can, help us create something meaningful, something with hope, something that heals, and something that frankly is a good read.

– The Aftershock Review