Submissions Open for D.O.R Issue 3

It’s that time again! The LJMcD Communications magazine of experimental art and literature is getting ready for a third issue and we’re looking for your work!

We can’t pay anything for your submissions, but we do offer contributors a print copy of the magazine at reduced cost (just covering printing and shipping)

All submissions should be in word doc format and sent to lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please include a short third person bio in the body of your email to accompany your piece.

Poetry: please send up to five poems not more than a million lines. Any subject, any style, but the weirder and more experimental the better

Prose: short stories, text experiments, essays and whatever else you got up to 5000 words.

Art: send up to 5 high def images. Please include titles and any accompanying information you would like printed alongside your images (medium, process, etc.) It’s also fine if you want your if you want your images to stand alone without extra information.

Anything Else: we are open to new ideas and anything else you’ve got. If you’ve got something that you think would fit within an issue of D.O.R, please don’t hesitate to send it through or send a query and see if it would work.

And, if this is your first time, don’t forget to read the past two issues of D.O.R which can be read or purchased here

LJMcD Communications Bookshop

Hi All,

You may have seen recently that we set up a physical store to sell LJMcD Communications stock as well as other assorted titles from our personal collection. Well, now this stock is open to everyone!

Have a read through the catalogue below and see if anything takes your fancy. If it does, simply email lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com with your order and the book(s) will be posted to you as soon as possible.

More titles will be added periodically, but for now you can browse through this great collection of work and make purchases as you see fit.

Please note: All prices are in AUD. Shipping will be calculated at the time of order.

bookshop-stock-3Download

Chainsaw Gender Reveal by Keith Higginbotham

The fabulous Chainsaw Gender Reveal by the wonderfully talented Keith Higginbotham is out now from LJMcD Communications.

This book of excellent modern poetry will twist your brain and bring you to a sudden and shining realisation about the state of poetry and your life. Get a copy from Amazon here or email lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com to order direct from the publisher.

Free Pamphlets for May 2023

Hi all,

This month we’ve got two brand new pamphlets to love and enjoy.

First up, we have Questions I Didn’t Know I’d Asked by the incomparable Mona Mehas. This chapbook of poetry inspired by Tarot and Oracle will knock your socks off with its intimate magic. Download a copy of the pamphlet below.

Questions I Didn’t Know I’d Asked [PDF for Website]Download

Secondly, we have The Poets Have the Floor, a thrilling extended prose poem told across three columns to whet your appetite for the fare of Lachlan J McDougall. Download a copy of the pamphlet below and see what you think!

The Poets Have the Floor (PDF for Website)Download

The next round of free pamphlets goes out in July, so keep an eye on things and make sure you don’t miss these great publications.

The Sound of a Pistol: Child’s Play and Other Games

The brand new book from Lachlan J McDougall and their small children is here and available for purchase.

This stunning collaborative effort is sure to dazzle and delight and you’ll be amazed at what these small forces of nature come out with.

All proceeds from this book go towards new toys and art supplies for the little ones.

Purchase a copy from Amazon here or email lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com to order a copy direct from LJMcD Communications.

Shimmied Christmas Jimmy, the Rat Fink of the Chimney free pdf

My latest chapbool, a long form surreal poem, is now available as part of the C22 open editions series. You can download a pdf of the poem below, or if you’d prefer a print copy, you can purchase from Amazon here or email lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com to purchase direct from LJMcD Communications.

Have a read and enjoy!

Shimmied Christmas Jimmy, The Rat Fink of the Chimney (C22 Open Editions)Download

Recent Reviews

Hi all,

I’ve been a bit slack on book reviews recently, so here’s a small collection of reviews in brief for the books I’ve missed.

Letter to my Mother by Georges Simenon—an engaging little read. At times boring, but overall quite interesting and really draws you into the deathbed musings of a long and strained relationship. A quick and simple read, I’d recommend for a rainy day. 3/5 stars.

Death the Barber by William Carlos Williams—fine poetry, but overall didn’t engage me that much. A quick read, there were some lovely images at times, but I think I was expecting more. 3/5 stars.

The Waste Land by T S Eliot—you can smell the charred landscape, the trash the death the strained amd curt relationships. It’s a wonderful poem and there’s not too much to say that hasn’t already been said. 4/5 stars.

The Problem that Has No Name by Betty Friedan—this is where it’s at. A wonderful feminist piece cataloguing the despair of the mid-century housewife and also the passion of the early feminists. Every word is powerful and resonates all to well in the modern world. 5/5 stars.

Schisms by Joshua Martin—another wonderful installment in the Martin cannon, this book teeters on the edge of sense and leaves you to draw your own lessons from the chaos of the text. A great, quick read, there’s nothing quite like it. 5/5 stars.

I’ll try to keep up with my reviews going forward, but there might be more of these reviews in brief coming your way.

Lachlan J McDougall

Review: ‘Howl, Kaddish and Other Poems’ by Allen Ginsberg

The wild beat hullabaloo where it all began in resounding howl over rooftops and tenements. Vision through the skies and over land, unflinching language to settle the scores. I love Ginsberg, and this is a fabulous collection of some of the best of his writing. “I am old father fisheye” writes the maestro and we see him there.

There isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said. ‘Howl’ is ecstatic, wild, a bop kabbalah for the ages. The rest of the poems follow suit. Each link in the chain is a drawing back of energy waiting to be unleashed into the universe. Every bit as powerful as it was back in the late fifties.

I highly recommend this book. If you need poetry in your life—this is it.

Pre-Order The Sound of A Pistol

Coming up in April is the brand new book of poetry and art by Lachlan J McDougall and their two small children. This book takes the childish eye and allows it to roam freely across the page in a glorious display of fatherly love.

Let’s see what the blurb has to say:

A series of poetic and artistic experiments gathered through play and games with the author’s children. A father’s passion project bringing his twins into the world of literature on their own terms. The Sound of A Pistol is the mind of a child brought bare before an adult world.

The book will be out at the beginning of April, but pre-orders are open now. For a print copy, simply email lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com and your order will go out shortly after release date.

To pre-order the kindle edition, check out the link here.

All proceeds from this book will go towards new toys and art supplies for the children in question, so get on board and order a copy today!

LJMcD Communications call for Ephemera

As you may know, LJMcD Communications publishes free zines and pamphlets from time to time. To date these have been the work of press founder and main contributor, Lachlan J McDougall, but now the call is open to have your work published as part of this wonderful free mail out network.

What we’re looking for: set your word document to A5 paper size and put together material up to 52 A5 pages in length. Please, no more than that as the zines become unwieldy, but anything up to that length is workable.

We’re looking for experiments here. We’re looking for something that’s been on your mind and you just need to get it out. You might want to check out the free pamphlets that have already been distributed here.

What’s in it for you: well, it’s a free mail out service, so there’s no monetary recompense, but it’s a great way to get your work out to a wide audience and it will put you in a good position if you ever want to submit a book for consideration with LJMcD Communications. There’ll be the option to limit the number of print copies if you’re into rarity, but otherwise your pamphlet will be distributed to the mailing network and included with orders of books and other mail outs and go on the ‘Catalogue of Ephemera’ for collectors of LJMcD Communications work.

Your pamphlet will also be put aside for inclusion in an anthology volume collecting all the LJMcD Communications ephemera in the future.

You will hold complete copyright over your work and can withdraw the zine at any time or use it for your own purposes, whatever you like!

There is also an option to put the pamphlet out as a full book after a period of time to set it in stone as part of the LJMcD Communications catalogue.

How do I submit: start by familiarising yourself with the zines the press has already put out, then put together your own zine manuscript and email it to lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com for consideration. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible and let you know how to proceed from there.