About

Tolka is a biannual literary journal of non-fiction: publishing essays, reportage, travel writing, auto-fiction, individual stories and the writing that flows in between.

Tolka publishes work that is formally promiscuous and which does not always fall into neat categories. We encourage writers to test the creative boundaries of non-fiction.

The Tolka river, from which we derive our name, comes from the Irish tolga: to overflow or to flood. Tolka aspires to provide the space for an overflow of new forms and styles of writing.

We have published some of the most innovative contemporary Irish writers, such as Eimear McBride, Brian Dillon, Roisin Kiberd, Niamh Campbell and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe. We also strongly promote new writers and new writing, and we publish writers from around the globe.

We are a print-only journal (with some pieces posted online), with an emphasis on quality design and finishes to create a high-end and visually appealing object.

Tolka prioritises a proactive approach to diversity and inclusivity as a means to redress structural inequalities and imbalances of cultural representation. As such, we promote work by writers who are underrepresented in the arts, due to their socio-economic background, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, age or disability.

Tolka is edited by Liam Harrison, Seán Hayes and Catherine Hearn, and proudly supported by the Arts Council.

Our contributing editors are Madeline Arkins, Chloé Duane, Martin Schauss and Caoihme White. In 2023 our translator-in-residence is Brian Robert Moore. Tolka is designed by Sarah McCoy.