Shore to Shore: from South Africa to Western Australia a discussion on Everyday Journal
by Lauren Pratt

Everyday Journal is a new literary magazine based in Cape Town and born out of the love for contemporary short fiction that unpacks what makes us human. It’s a home for stories that tap into the power of ‘ordinary’ experiences. Everyday journal came to me from Cape Town, South Africa, and travelled across the Indian Ocean to Perth, Western Australia, where I live. Travelling over 8,500 kilometres of ocean to land in my hands for me to read. The journey from South African shores to Western Australian shores seems to me remarkable because Everyday Journal is not a book that can be bought off Book Depository or something you can buy from Dymocks or QBD – it’s a small literary journal published by a small team that believes there is “power in small details.”

I interviewed Anna Degenaar, the editor of Everyday Journal, to learn more about how this literary magazine came to be. Anna is a short story writer from Cape Town currently living in London. She completed a MA in Creative Writing and Education at Goldsmiths University in 2019, and she is passionate about the small details and moments that make up human experience and the way they play out in fiction. I asked Anna about the inspiration behind creating Everyday Journal: “While studying my masters, I realised how much I loved workshopping pieces of writing. I really missed the experience of hearing what other writers were working on and helping them figure out ways to improve their stories. When I got back to Cape Town, I decided to do something that would allow me to continue doing that on a more regular basis. I also realised how useful feedback was for the writing process and wanted to create a space that offered some support for emerging writers.”

Providing support for emerging writers is something that I am very passionate about. Whether that comes in the form of feedback, publishing opportunities, programs, or payment, I think that emerging creatives need support because it’s not always a welcoming experience. Anyone who is starting out should have encouragement regardless of what they are going into – no one wants to be shut down before they have the chance to really shine. Anna created Everyday Journal to create a supportive space for emerging writers in Cape Town and beyond: “Studying Creative Writing and Education showed me the importance of a writing community, and the idea for the journal was born from an urge to continue fostering spaces of encouragement and support for new writing.” Anna also explains that providing feedback for creative work is a cornerstone to Everyday Journal: “It [providing feedback] was actually the most important part of the process for me. Submitting stories to journals can be really disheartening, and I didn’t want that to be the case with this magazine. I think understanding why your story wasn’t chosen for submission is really helpful in being able to move forward, learn and keep writing.”

The writers included in the first issue of Everyday Journal hail from all across the globe, from Nigeria, London, Edinburgh, and Cape Town. The first issue also features two photographers from Cape Town. I asked Anna if she consciously decided to publish people from across the world but found out that this occurred naturally: “I didn’t ask writers to include bios or disclose any specific information, so the judging was somewhat blind, and it was quite wonderful when I found out where everyone was from.” Like Portside Review, the variety of writers in Everyday Journal is reflected in the quality of work published. For a first issue, the writing is amazing and touches on really poignant moments of everyday life. The first work of short fiction, ‘These Four Walls’ by Omoregie Esohe Ashley-Christabelle, tells the story of a family home that sees a family broken apart by a Father’s abuse and infidelity. ‘Float’ by Anna van Dyk tells the story of an 18-year-old girl recalling the time when she travelled across Europe on a Contiki tour and was sexually assaulted by a tour guide, and ends with two very poignant sentences: When I was twenty years old, I had sex with my first serious boyfriend and told him I was a virgin. When people ask me about my first time, this is what I tell them.”

The following piece, ‘Featured Playlist: Five Summer Indie Hits’ by Nick Mulgrew, brings the reader back up and invites them to listen to their summer compilation. Mulgrew shares tracks by Ben Howard, Laura Veirs, Wild Nothing, She & Him, and Vampire Weekend. In between each written work is photography by Sivan Zeffertt and Cameron Sheehan. The photographs are snippets of everyday life: two rusted garden chairs in an overgrown backyard, a close-up of pebbles, the sun shining through a window onto a bed, out-of-focus grass, limestone and sand. I asked Anna about the inclusion of photography in Everyday Journal, and she said that “The inclusion of photography came from the simple idea of wanting to create something that was aesthetically beautiful. I liked the idea that people could connect with the magazine in more ways than one.” Anna has definitely delivered a beautiful aesthetic with a balance of talented writing and creative photography.

The journal closes with Victor Ola-Matthew’s ‘You, Me and Philadelphia’ and ‘Spring Break’ by Christina Coates. Ola-Matthew tells a beautiful, heart-warming story of a child who lived in Nigeria and would be terrified of thunderstorms when “the rain would beat against the rooftop like a child seeking attention with unnecessary tantrums” but now lives in Philadelphia with his best friend now girlfriend listening to the rain. In contrast, Coates writes a story about a couple’s fifth anniversary holiday, from the point-of-view of the wife, that “was supposed to be a re-enactment of the honeymoon he’d [the husband] cut short.” We soon find out that the husband’s romantic gestures are long gone, and the wife is in a quasi-state of denial about her husband’s abuse. Each story shares in the beauty and heartbreak of everyday life and everyday experiences – these are stories that people can relate to. Anna Degenaar has expertly curated an amazing first issue, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Everyday Journal. In fact, I asked Anna one last question: what’s next? To which Anna replied, “The second issue is nearly done, and I’m so excited to see how it’s received. It would be incredible to expand the team and bring in a few fresh pairs of eyes, but at the moment I’m just enjoying each little part of the process!” and for those looking to submit to Everyday Journal, “The way you see the world is fascinating, and we’d love to see things the way that you do. Trust yourself.”

To echo Anna’s words: trust yourself…in your writing, creativity, talents, and decisions. It’s the best gift you can give to yourself.

To find out more about Everyday Journal, head to their website and follow them on Instagram.

Anna Degenaar is the editor of Everyday Journal. She is a short story writer from Cape Town currently living in London. She completed a MA in Creative Writing and Education at Goldsmiths University in 2019 and she is passionate about the small details and moments that make up human experience and the way they play out in fiction.

Lauren Pratt is an emerging editor and publisher working and living on Whadjuk Noongar land. She is a graduate student of English and Creative Writing, minoring in Australian Indigenous Studies from Murdoch University. Lauren is assistant editor for Pulch magazine and an editor for Underground Writers. Her work has been published by Portside Review, Pocket Baby Zine, Underground Writers, Pulch, and METIOR.