BROB interviews BROB (Part Uno): Editor-in-Geek, Luke Frostick, in his own words

Interview by BROB Poetry Guy, Liam Murray

Not to ventriloquize you, but I recall you telling me that when you first thought up establishing the Bosphorus Review that it was about providing a platform that didn't previously exist, for writers, especially focused on those in Istanbul, whose talents and perspectives would otherwise be going to waste. Do you think that goal has been achieved?

To a certain extent yes. I’m not sure that going to waste is quite the right way of putting it. Thomas and I started the BROB out of our own frustration at not getting published. But not everything needs to be published. For example, if you look at the excellent spoken word poets at the Slam competitions, those creators don’t necessarily want to have their words put down on paper and the performance is what they are aiming for. But for those who do want their words to be read I think we have provided a platform that didn’t previously exist. I know that even our humble publication rejects stories and pieces of non-fiction all the time. 

Do you believe the original idea of the journal has morphed over the years? 

Not hugely. I feel that the initial goal of the Bosphorus review of exploring Turkish and world literature has been successful. It is quite a broad goal and I think we’ve been working at it well.

I ask because I've heard it joked that most of the writers are immigrants or not often based here, and that we don't feature enough Turkish writers. Do you think that's true and, if so, do you think it should be a concern?

We have had a decent number of Turkish authors in the magazine, but broadly it does concern me. I suspect it is unavoidable, however. Because the journal is in English, I worry that people who are not used to writing in their second language don’t submit to us as much as they might if they were writing in their native language. That being said, some of the pieces we have published over the years that I have been most satisfied with are the ones where somebody is writing in their second language and sent it in. Sometimes you can see a great story or interesting article underneath some slightly janky English and it is a pleasure to put that right and help people express themselves in English.

The other side of this is translation. We have had translations of Turkish in the magazine. For example, we have a great one in this edition. But we do not have the resources to commission translators, which is an obvious way that one might try to get more Turkish writers in the magazine.

Although a published fiction writer, you've spent a lot of the last year focusing on writing book and art reviews that intertwine with your own political and social views, more in the way of a columnist. Is this a new calling do you think?

One of the fun things about running the BROB is that I’ve found I really enjoy reviewing books. I’m passionate about literature and being able to share that passion is great. I am also interested in politics and history and if I can write things that further my own understanding of those topics, then great.

I guess you could call me a columnist. I have started writing about books and doing interviews for other venues like The Three Crows Magazine and Duvar English.

The reason you’ve not seen so much fiction from me in the BROB or in other places is because the majority of my fiction writing energy has been directed towards a novel. It is still in very early stages, but I’ll keep at it and see if I can make something worthwhile.

What do you think the Review has really nailed this year? First, in terms of submissions that have been gifted to us, and second, in terms of what you've made happen yourself?

We’ve had some great successes. I have been proud of a lot of the fiction and non-fiction that we have published and you have taken on the challenges of the poetry column really well and it is better than ever.

Personally I have been pleased with the interviews we have done. Getting the chance to sit down with really talented, interesting people and ask them whatever the hell you want is a real privilege. I hope readers have enjoyed them as much as I have.

I should also say that I am really proud of the book we published earlier this year (this year? Really? Fuck, it feels like a generation ago!). Whatever, it is great, I learned a lot from the process. You should buy it if you haven’t already. Go on I’ll wait…

We're going to be taking on a few more people this year. What do you hope a more expansive team will bring to the mag? Basically, I'm not enough, am I?

As far as I can tell, you basically spend your time reading poetry then flipping a coin to decide if you are going to publish it (Critical hit! Maximum Banter Reached!).

Okay, shit posting aside, I’m really happy with the work that you’ve done for the magazine. When we lost Thomas and Erica it wasn’t totally clear if the BROB would be able to continue. You stepped up amazingly and it has been great working with you.

The simple fact is that I need help. The number of submissions has steadily risen over the year; so getting them read, along with proof reading, and everything else, has taken a lot of time and I have some quite serious changes coming in my life and I worry I won’t be able to give the time needed.

Having some people to help with the work and maybe take on one or more of the columns would be a real help to me. Moreover, I am excited to have new people come in with fresh ideas about what the Bosphorus Review can be and new directions that you and I haven’t even considered.

Lastly, I need somebody to take over our social media. I know social media is important to get new readers, reach out to new writers, but simply put I’m bad at it and find it hard to give a shit about anything that happens on twitter. 

As you have just demonstrated splendidly, you give the impression of being absolutely nonplussed by poetry. But I know for a fact that you have an affection for John Cooper-Clark and Woodie Guthry – punk-poets if you will. Do you want to clarify your position?

The problem with poetry is that it is an extremely intimate and personal art form. You can feel the hell out of a poem that does absolutely nothing for other people. I was taught poetry at school – and that is a fast way to switch a teenager off poetry for life. I was made to read poetry that other people felt was meaningful that left me feeling bored.

I have been easing my way back into reading poetry and the first stage of that is to realise that you don’t have to like everything. You need to be selective and I have been getting better. As you said, I’ve been enjoying the work of John Cooper-Clarke and Leonard Cohen. Their work, for different reasons, speaks to me, so I enjoy reading it. I kind of approach the BROB poetry column in the same way now. I know I’m not going to like everything, and that’s fine.

The other thing about poetry that I have been learning over the past few years is that it is not simply a written form. It is also a performance and I’d like to credit Spoken Word Istanbul and the newly formed and totally amazing Istanbul Poetry Slam. I believe you interviewed its founder. They had their finals last night and the winner is going to attend a slam competition in Italy, which was very exciting to watch and I hope it continues on into the New Year.

If you had told me a couple of years ago that I would be regularly attending poetry readings, I’d have been sceptical. Who knows, there might be a poetry submission from me crossing your desk in the near future… but probably not.

If we suddenly got an anonymous donation so huge that we could quit our day jobs and focus full-time on the Bosphorus Review, what do you think you would like to see happen?

I fucking knew it. You are a secret millionaire! You thought you could fool me with your scruffy jeans, roguish accent, and Jeremy Corbyn body pillow.

Well, with the large amounts of cash that you are surely going to inject into the magazine now, I will spend it on writers and artists. I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that we don’t pay the writers or ourselves and, in fact, run the magazine at a loss.

Now I’m not saying that everything should be commoditised. However, our writers, poets and artists work hard on their pieces and articles and I believe they should be paid. That being said, if your promised millions fail to materialise, we are trying to raise money through our Patreon account. It is early days, but we already have enough to pay the costs of running the magazine. If it continues, we will hopefully be able to start making token payments to our writers as well.

You’re going to need a better pitch than that but keep working on it. In the meantime, what do you think you're looking forward to in the coming year as a possible achievement?

I would like to see the magazine keep going. I’m hoping that with the help of the new people we will be able to handle a greater number of submissions. I’m also hoping that we might be able to get a few other projects of the ground. I am excited to see what you are cooking up with regard to the chap books.