The original Argosy magazine, featuring short fiction, poetry and more, was around for nearly one hundred years until, we were told, that the market for short stories had died. Beaten to death by half hour shows on television, perhaps? However, for many of us the short story was the lubrication which so gently eased us into developing a taste for - or even an addiction to - literature in all its forms. Apart from resurrecting a love of the genre, the aim of this new magazine is to provide a platform from which unknown or little known Westcountry authors can display their wares to the wider world.
The lands surrounding the Torridge Estuary, and Appledore in particular, are particularly rich in literary talent, and - indeed - always have been. Authors like Rudyard Kipling, Rosemary Sutcliffe, Henry Williamson, Michael Morpurgo, and Charles Kingsley drew upon the genius loci of the region, but also enriched it by doing so. The psychogeographers would say that there is something in the DNA of the area which encourages this spiritual and artistic two way traffic, and this is something that this magazine is here to celebrate, support and encourage.