Are you curious about what goes on in the lives of other people? Ever wondered just how differently the person sat next to you views the world? Or wanted to re-live a moment from somebody else’s point of view?

If any of these apply to you, DNA Magazine is probably the literary journal for you.

These days, it’s all too easy for us to stick labels on people and dismiss them. These labels — millennials, baby-boomers, liberals, Tories, alt-righters, Brexiters/Bremainers, feminists etc we all hear them ­ — turn people in to caricatures, shallow characters defined by the stereotypes of that group. They create divisions and stifle empathy as individual stories are lost. We become nameless and faceless, statistics rather than people.

My goal for DNA Magazine is to publish stories that celebrate the lives and memories of ordinary people. To remind people of the experiences and events that make each of us different and unique. It’s harder to dismiss people when you hear about their personal experiences. Not all of us will do great things that will set us apart and be worthy of record in a full-length memoir, but all of us have interesting stories that we can share.

The first issue of DNA Magazine will be published at the end of May. Submissions are currently open for 300-500 word non-fiction pieces that are inspired by the theme of lists. These lists can be as simple as a shopping list or something more visual such as a group of people in a photograph, a collection of objects or locations. A list might be a series of ingredients that go into an old family recipe or a selection of facts that hint at a bigger personal story. You don’t have to include the list in your piece of writing — you might just reference something on it — I just want to find out about the hidden stories behind that list.

So far, I’ve had a varied selection of lists — everything from a list of closed London Underground stations to old playlists, to a group of people one writer sees at the bus stop every day to the items on another writer’s bed side table.

If you have a piece of writing you’d like to submit, please send it (with a photograph or copy of your list) to submissions@dnamag.co.uk. Submissions close on 24^th March 2017. The submission guidelines can be found at www.dnamag.co.uk.

Katie Marsden

(DNA Magazine Curator)