Pushing Out the Boat

27/10/2025

💡Vendor spotlight

✨We have reached our final highlight in the Issue 18 vendor series!

What better way to top it all off than to celebrate the late NE Scotland author, Lewis Grassic Gibbon and his epic legacy. We are proud to stock Issue 18 in a centre which strives to amplify the Scottish novelist voice.

Grassic Gibbon Centre & Cafe

20/10/2025

💡Vendor Spotlight

✨Describing itself as "dedicated to preserving the past, present, and future of Scottish rural life", The Glenesk Folk Museum & Visitor Centre is a beacon of knowledge in the Aberdeenshire countryside. Immerse yourself in local history and culture with a visit followed by a browse through your new copy of Issue 18!

https://www.gleneskfolkmuseum.org/

13/10/2025

💡Vendor spotlight

✨Boasting incredible views to Clachnaben⛰, this countryside restaurant is home to all things sweet. Homemade bread and bakes, a fancy farmhouse larder and a vast selection of art prints, books and homeware - Finzean Farm Shop stocks it all. Come and get your fill, and a copy of Issue 18.

06/10/2025

💡Vendor spotlight

✨With an enticing selection of new and second-hand books, Rosemount's newly opened independent bookshop, Somerville Books, hopes to welcome you soon! We are excited to be stocked in this up-and-coming space - do pay them a visit!

05/10/2025

Pushing Out the Boat contributor Marka Rifat wins the 2025 Toulmin Prize 🙌

Congratulations to Marka Rifat the winner of the Toulmin Prize 2025! Marka read aloud her story, Thyme's Arrow, to an enthralled audience at the prizegiving event at the WayWord Festival in the Sir Duncan Rice Library at the University of Aberdeen this afternoon. Sheena Blackhall, also read excerpts from a Toulmin story at the event, and Lesley Crerar, BSL signer, signed at the event.
Marka was presented with a prize of £500 generously donated by the Reid family.
Pictured (l to r) Sheila Reid, a Toulmin competition judge (no relation to the Reid family), Marka Rifat, Toulmin Prize winner 2025, Richard Bennett, Lead Toulmin Judge, and Toulmin's grandsons Richard, Martin and Steven Reid.
Well done Marka!
University of Aberdeen LLMVC University of Aberdeen, English and Creative Writing

05/10/2025

Those of you in attendance on Wednesday's Way WORD Festival event, "Spotlighting North East Magazines", will agree it was a fantastic celebration of Scottish and Irish prose and poetry.

We were joined by Causeway/Cabhsair magazine who launched their 14th issue with a bang, sending forth three new readers to the spotlight.

Three of our own contributors were delighted to perform alongside members of the Causeway crew making for a refreshing mix of new writing.

Read more about the event in a blog post to follow.

02/10/2025

✨Happy National Poetry Day!

Forward Arts Foundation's annual celebration of all things poetry is here!

This year's theme:

🎭Play🎮

In recognition, enjoy a snippet of Issue 16 contributor Iain Twiddy's ode to a comical childhood toy, "Red Spider."🕷

30/09/2025

Hope to see you there tomorrow!

🌈As part of this year's Way WORD Festival, Pushing Out the Boat looks forward to participating in an exciting reading event titled "Spotlighting North East Magazines" on 1st October.

🤝Joint with Causeway/Cabhsair magazine, we will be delighted to present a mix of poetry and prose at the Sir Duncan Rice Library, performed, of course, by some of our lovely contributors.

🎟Book tickets for this free event at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/wayword-festival/spotlighting-north-east-magazines-potb-and-causeway-cabhsair/e-mqkqra

29/09/2025

💡Vendor Spotlight

✨This week we highlight Devana Parish Church who we are grateful to be stocked with. What's not to love about a community hub with a weekly coffee shop... and shiny Issue 18s for sale!

28/09/2025

There's still time to book tickets for our joint reading event with Causeway/Cabhsair magazine this Wednesday! ⬇️

🌈As part of this year's Way WORD Festival, Pushing Out the Boat looks forward to participating in an exciting reading event titled "Spotlighting North East Magazines" on 1st October.

🤝Joint with Causeway/Cabhsair magazine, we will be delighted to present a mix of poetry and prose at the Sir Duncan Rice Library, performed, of course, by some of our lovely contributors.

🎟Book tickets for this free event at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/wayword-festival/spotlighting-north-east-magazines-potb-and-causeway-cabhsair/e-mqkqra

22/09/2025

Wishing our contributors Nicola and Marka luck tomorrow! 🍀

💫🎙A reminder of next week's action at one of the Wee Gaitherin's North East tour events - join in on 23rd September at Banchory Library and watch Pushing Out the Boat contributors Marka Rifat and Nicola Furrie Murphy perform.

Event details⬇️
https://aberdeenshire.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/EVSESENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=16565298&fbclid=IwY2xjawMwm6hleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFyd2lzSXdCQnZRaE8zRnJBAR5va6FMQsr0N0KJHaEdJHR9Hjg1USctSk8xsFgqIoIj4UsPCQZ76bjhXR213g_aem_JReIs0ohlOZjN3giR6L1kA

22/09/2025

💡Vendor spotlight

✨State of the art, bustling, forward-looking: three words to describe Dundee Contemporary Arts. Promoting the value of creativity and culture in our everyday lives, DCA is a centre for film, exhibition and workshops - a place we are proud to stock our shiny new Issue 18.

Head to their website to investigate upcoming events - there is something for everyone.
https://www.dca.org.uk/