Bridging Gaps

Hazel Currie

A lot of people have told me how MageQuill can be seen as potentially exclusionary. We target an author-group of 12 to 26-year-olds, with an aim to develop and build on their storytelling skills. As a member of this team, I am quite proud of our novel take on the publishing process; we focus more on the author’s journey towards publication than on the final manuscript itself. Instead of the traditional editorial process – which can often be hierarchical – we have a mentorship structure on our online creative writing platform, where young writers can develop their manuscript within an interactive framework of peer feedback and mentor-guidance.

Kelsey McRae

When I joined the team here in Scotland around three months ago, a friend mentioned how a space dedicated to young voices can potentially cost voices from the older generations. I couldn’t really present a good answer at that point; as it turns out, however, I discover more about MageQuill every day. One such discovery was our newest copyeditor, Hazel, whom I had the pleasure of meeting a few weeks ago.

Hazel is our newest copyeditor, and is working on 18-year-old author, Kelsey McRae’s book Indigo Rain, scheduled for release in mid-November 2018 by our publishing brand, Bombadil Publishing. She is 82, is proud of her age and experiences, and is one of the most enthusiastic, vibrant, and receptive people I have met.

Hazel’s involvement in the MageQuill team brings to the forefront for me another larger agenda MageQuill aims towards: bridging generation gaps. As a concept, inclusivity is something most companies, organisations, and institutions aspire to. I see Hazel’s addition to our team as an encouraging step towards inclusivity in terms of age demographic, alongside the national and ethnic diversity that we already are proud of. It also adds, I believe, another dimension to the concept of teamwork!

Hazel, who is passionate about crosswords, says about her work with MageQuill and her engagement with Kelsey’s book: “I love being able to read and contribute to the success of Indigo Rain. I am also learning a lot about what the current generation are thinking about along with their concerns.

So often people think that the thoughts of us oldies and the younger generation do not matter. In fact, I think we fit together very well. We are on either ends of the spectrum of life, wanting and wishing the same thing; hope and happiness for all. Opposites do attract in more ways than one, I suppose!”