sonar and heartbeat

January 2026

I don’t know about where you are, but here in Scotland it’s cold. Very cold. It’s the kind of deep icy Saturday on which getting out of bed feels like a foolish endeavour. Better to crank up the heating, huddle under the duvet, and reach for something to read.

Preferably the latest issue of Gutter.

Speaking of which, this being January, we’re now only a few weeks from the launch of Issue #33, and for those of you who read this newsletter I have a treat: a sneak preview of what you’ll find when it gets here.

For those of you who enjoy our selection of essays, this is a fabulous edition, with non-fiction by Ali Millar, Alice Mah and Louise Gray. There are short stories by Lindsay Johnstone, Viccy Adams, CL Glanzing and many others, and there’s amazing poetry by Jenni Fagan, William Letford, Niall O’Gallagher, Tim Tim Cheng, and so many more. There’s also an interview with debut author Rebecca Ferrier, by our Guest Editor Zain Rishi, and reviews of books by Medha Singh and Anbara Salam. Frankly, you’re going to love it, and if you haven’t yet subscribed, please do so. It’ll be the best £20 you spend all year.

In the meantime of course, you can find some great new writing on our website.

First, a poem, ‘The Handsome Doctor’, written by the very brilliant Iona Lee. It is at once unsettling and funny.

I give him a quick tour of my wispiest outlines.
The grey waving fronds of me.
We are sonar and heartbeat.

(Thanks to Iona for providing this newsletter’s title.)

Finally, our book of month is Louise Welsh’s latest Rilke novel, The Cut Up, reviewed by Louise Hutcheson. It’s a book in which Glasgow, the story’s setting, is ‘vividly rendered; all dark doorways and dreich rainfall, sleaze and drugs and antique auctions.’ You can read it here.

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