Student journal inspired by Ormskirk

Creative writing students are taking a hands-on approach to learning with the production of their own international literary journal.

The Black Market Review is edited exclusively by creative writing undergraduate and postgraduate students at Edge Hill University. It showcases poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction, translations, art and photography, reviews and interviews. The first issue included authors from as far apart as the UK, Spain, the United States and the Philippines and contributions are now being invited for the second issue, due for publication in March 2010. The deadline for these submissions is December 1.

The BMR gets its name from a little piece of Ormskirk's history. The students wanted its title to relate to the University or the town and came up with the name The Market, but were worried this sounded too money-related. Then further research revealed that Ormskirk's famous street market was started by the Black Canons, an order of Augustinian monks, so the name developed and The Black Market Review was born.

The Review's Faculty Advisor is Dr Daniele Pantano, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Creative Writing. He stressed that the BMR is unusual for a university as it is a proper international literary journal edited by students - not simply a student magazine. Dr Pantano says its aim is to offer students professional work experience, as well as highlight the creative writing programme at Edge Hill.

He added: "This journal gives students a taste of working on a real magazine - from learning about the editorial process, to design, ethical issues, and everything the production process entails.

"Our students are developing their craft as writers, but editing the BMR ensures they also develop their skills as critical readers within a professional environment. Furthermore, it gives them experience of what happens when they submit their own work to a literary journal. Most students from other universities will be able to say they've worked on student journals, but the BMR gives Edge Hill students real experience on a professional literary journal to take into the outside world."

The first issue of The Black Market Review was dedicated to Lisa Ratcliffe, a part time lecturer and PhD student, who died in February 2009 after losing her battle with cancer. Lisa has been described as one of Edge Hill's ‘most remarkable writers'.

Dr Pantano previously taught at the University of South Florida and was the Visiting Poet-in-Residence at Florida Southern College. He was last year asked to contribute a poem to the Mailer Review, an international journal dedicated to the life and work of the American novelist Norman Mailer (1923-2007). The poem appeared in a special tribute issue of the review, published to commemorate the late author's life, which also included contributions by Don DeLillo, Sean Penn, Gay Talese, Philip Roth and Günter Grass. Dr Pantano's next books, The Oldest Hands in the World (a collection of poems), The Possible Is Monstrous: Selected Poems by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and The Collected Works of Georg Trakl, are forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press, New York.

• Black Market Review
• BA (Hons) Creative Writing