Welcome to HUMAN or the Honest Ulsterman Magazine Archive Network. This is a project we've been intending to do since the reactivation of the magazine as an online entity. We are in the process of creating an online archive of small Irish literary magazines with the Honest Ulsterman as its cornerstone. Magazines, particularly those before the Internet age are the most ephemeral of objects and yet small literary magazines played (and still play) an intrinsic part in the development of major literary talent. A literary magazine archive can highlight trends in local literature and indicate the literary response to important local, national and international historical events of the era. It can illustrate publication trends over time and indicate aesthetic, stylistic and technological advancement in design and print methodologies.
To understand contemporary literary practice it is important to see it in the context of the past and the HU provided a platform for then emerging but now well-known artists for over thirty years. Small magazines such as the HU played a vital part in the development of artistic practice. Importantly they were a small voice often running against the grain of the grand cultural/political/religious narratives that existed within Northern Irish society at that time. It is vital if we are to have a full appreciation of the art produced and distributed through magazines during the Troubles that we have access to these publications.
The archive is free to read and enjoy but please note that it is a work in progress. We intend to make the archive searchable but as you no doubt realise this is quite a task and therefore will take time so please bear with us. We are working with archive material which is often not in perfect condition and that we have to work with 'as is' so therefore the scans are not as perfect as we would like. Occasionally there will be pages slightly askew or faded. Over time we hope to replace these pages and hopefully they won't spoil your enjoyment too much. We have tried to recreate the feel of the original Honest Ulsterman as faithfully as we can so have not corrected any mistakes that were in the original print editions.
We are always on the lookout for any relevant archival material so feel free to contact us at hueditor@theverbal.co or on 028 71266946.