Emerald - the second literary magazine from Monstrous Regiment

Monstrous Regiment, an indie press based in Edinburgh, was founded by Lauren and Ellen, two publishing students. Their publications focus on themes of feminism, sexuality, and gender. I reviewed their first three publications over on my Shapeshifting Green blog here.

Emerald is the second issue of their literary journal (following on from Crimson). All the stories, poems and artwork in this issue are somehow inspired by the colour green - everything from St Patrick's Day to envy and with a good number of pieces looking at nature and environmental issues.

The first story PezCo Helps focuses on Myfanwy and how her life is defined by the local PezCo upermarket. I really enjoyed this story, with its explorations of consumerism, our relationship with supermarkets and their impact on the environment.

 Myfanwy wasn't the first to mistake excellent customer service for love. She'd written off the the tailored deals, the folksy tweets, the 'Have a Lovely Day' from the PezCo Helpers as twee at first, but now she looked forward to them.

It's worth buying Emerald for this story alone.

Another of my favourites here, Four Green Walls is narrated in the voice of a cow who lives in the city and makes the reader think about how we treat farm animals.

The Siren's Catcall also particularly impressed me, an entertaining reimagination of the mythological sirens who lured sailors to their deaths.

I enjoyed all the stories here. (The poetry less so, to be honest.)

It's always good to see a new local publishing venture start up and I'm interested to read future publications from Monstrous Regiment.

Emerald published by Monstrous Regiment (2018) £10.00.