Max Wallis, a poet and former model, launched Aftershock Review in response to his struggles with mental health and addiction. After losing 12 years of his life, Wallis sought to find meaning from the ruins of his life. He moved home to Lancashire and began submitting to magazines, but only a few poems would get published. With energy to spare, he began to imagine what a space specifically for trauma poetry could look like. The idea of The Aftershock Review was born, and Wallis put the word out for submissions.
Work poured in from poets who were disabled, disadvantaged, ill, or excluded in various ways. The reference anthology was Al Alvarez’s electrifying The New Poetry, which launched Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton to an enthralled readership. Bloodaxe’s Staying Alive series was also hugely admired. “It’s not a pity project,” Wallis insists, calling it “literature forged from survival”. Established poets were eager to submit, alongside rising stars and unknown writers. Inua Ellams’s “Fuck” poems meld rage, wit, and social commentary; Rhian Elizabeth’s Amsterdam states baldly “girl loses her father, girl loses her mind”; Golnoosh Nour’s Burnt Divinities celebrates her heritage: “the glorious / mixture of glitter and garbage”.
The Aftershock Review represents a jolt to the mainstream, as contributor Pascale Petit calls it “a raft to all of us suffering trauma in troubling times. Poetry this open is necessary, and I don’t think any other magazine has dared to address our personal ills so candidly.” Gwyneth Lewis, a former national poet of Wales, points out that for ages raw, confessional poetry was looked down on as “feminine.”
In the few months of its existence, Aftershock has made an impact – with sales over £3,000 and 360,000 views on Instagram. A giant billboard on Manchester’s Deansgate is seen by thousands daily, and much more is planned for the Aftershock universe: further issues, poetry pamphlets, outreach, and events. Perhaps what’s so exciting is that it has tapped into the huge energy and enthusiasm for poetry felt by young writers and readers, who recognize it can be a comfort and release. “Aftershock has given me everything,” Wallis says. “It’s proof that you can take an awful few years and make them into potentially the most astonishing year. It’s incredible.”
