About: 


The Dark Blue is a yearly literary journal taking its name from a Pre-Raphaelite journal that published monthly between 1871 to 1873. At the contemporary The Dark Blue we are seeking to publish exclusively nonfiction or criticism and foster a community of writers and critics through passionate editorial relationships. As an exclusively print journal our emphasis is on publishing work that is timeless – not opinion but thought. We are interested in a criticality that is compelled by a love of the world; a criticality that is a form of vulnerability or scholarship that imbued with sensitivity, aware of its own emotional quality.

Founded in London in 2025 by Inez Madeleine with Julia Merican, Raphaela Blake and Hugo Bou-Assaf.


About Us: 

 

Inez Madeleine:



Inez is an editor of The Dark Blue and a writer based in London working on her first book untitled Amaranthine Thirst, a book on elegy and an elegy itself. She will commence her PhD at Queen Mary University London in September 2025 with the author Brian Dillon as her supervisor. Her PhD is an exploration of the formal and linguistic containers of heartbreak throughout literature. Inez is a graduate of the RCA Writing MA in 2024.




Julia Merican:

Julia is an editor at The Dark Blue and a writer from Kuala Lumpur. Her words have appeared in various print and digital publications, and once, quite excitingly, on an unfurling scroll in a gallery. Currently, she works as a researcher in London and is working on her first book, The Inconsolable Secrets.




Raphaela Blake:

Hugo Bou-Assaf: 

Hugo helms social platforms and art direction for The Dark Blue. His forthcoming project is titled Henry, Running, a book on sport, touch and the power of imagery. Hugo is a graduate of Royal College of Art Writing MA and the Central Saint Martins CCC BA.




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