The Drouth is unusual for a Scottish literary magazine in that it only infrequently publishes poetry, arguing that as poetry covers a good portion of other magazines' content, its efforts are better focused on other art-forms less well represented in Scotland's "small mags". The magazine works on a commissioning basis, and does not encourage unsolicited submissions. It has a particular focus on literature, film, and politics but also covers visual art, music, architecture, photography, and comix, as well as giving generous space to creative fiction.
The magazine sponsors a number of cultural events, mostly in Glasgow. Every issue also features a guest editor (usually someone of distinction in a given field) and guest cover artist.
Editorial stance
The Drouth's editorial stance could be described as non-aligned left with occasional anarchistic and libertarian overtones, as shown by its ties to radical online publications such as Pulse and Spinwatch, and with the author James Kelman. Nevertheless, it also publishes work by more establishment figures on the left and right of the political spectrum, and editorial board members such as Owen Dudley Edwards retain links to the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru. The magazine is a frequent critic of the Scottish Labour Party but maintains it follows no party alignment and is uncommitted on the issue of Scottish independence.
In general, the magazine has taken an aggressively non-institutional stance and has found common cause with magazines such as Variant, though it retains an independent approach on political issues and does not maintain formal links with major organisations and institutions. Its editorial board is nevertheless, drawn from a mainly institutional background across the two major Scottish cities and currently consists of:
David Archibald, Lecturer, Dept of Film Theatre and Television The University of Glasgow (2006–present)
Gerard Carruthers, Head of Dept of Scottish Literature, The University of Glasgow (2001–present)
Steve Davismoon, Composer and lecturer at Napier University, Edinburgh (2003–present)
Owen Dudley Edwards, Reader in History, The University of Edinburgh (2001–present)
Dorian Grieve, Editor and Researcher in Linguistics, University of Glasgow (2004–present)
Editorial board members primarily offer advice, but can also commission work, initiate ideas for issues and get involved in production. Several editorial board members were initially guest editors who joined the permanent staff.
Guest editors
Since issue 6, a guest editor has been invited to contribute editorial essays and advice. There has been no guest editor for issues 9, 25 and 33, and the lineup has included pseudonymous and spoof entries. The full list is as follows;
The Drouth has recently published two books based partly on essays and features that first appeared in its pages; in 2009 it published Fickle Man: Robert Burns in the 21st Century (Sandstone Press) and in 2010, Tartan Pimps: Gordon Brown, Margaret Thatcher & the New Scotland (Argyll Publishing).
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