‘The rebel child of the New Zealand literary scene’
The Big Idea
Folly is a print only publication produced in Wellington city. Unbound by academic affiliations, fiercely independent, and purposely not high brow, it produces beautiful light literary content purely designed to amuse and entertain.
Folly is a print only anthology of art, short stories, non-fiction and poetry. Launched in 2022 and published by the Wellington Writers’ Studio, it is home to content which is beautiful, funny, insightful and provocative.
Folly is a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses and abides by the CLMP Code of Ethics.
Our writers
Our writers in Issue 001 range from established authors and commentators to first time writers. We are open to pitches for nonfiction content for Issue 002, particularly content about the social scene, and welcome enquiries and ideas from journalists and authors. We encourage general submitters to purchase a copy of Issue 001 to understand the tone of our publication.
Thoughts and musings
“The story ‘Seawall’ has appeal because of its spin on power and possibility. It’s clever -- as well as graphic. The only thing repressed about it is that the author (Snakes) uses a pseudonym. Nice irony. I hope whoever Snakes is gets full credit for it. Don’t take relationship advice from the stories in Folly. That’d be Folly.
- Karen Nimmo, Clinical psychologist
”Something exciting, something lively, something more than titillating was happening in a lot of the short stories. They were fresh and funny and really unusual for a New Zealand short story, possibly because they were fresh and funny…. it marked something new in New Zealand writing, something…joyful, unaffected. The story I liked most was "I'm obsessed with you" by George Titheridge, winner of the 2023 Folly Short Story prize. Sexy: tick (The female protagonist is brought to orgasm eight times by her partner: "He counted.") Fresh, funny, joyful, unaffected: tick. I absolutely loved it.
A toast of at least one drink to Folly, that strange new journal which has some of the best New Zealand writing I've read all year.”
- Steve Braunias, for ReadingRoom
“Could Folly’s assertions be true? Is your bog standard book launch just too dry?’ ...But a launch in a sauna could be … unhinged in a fun, usual book launch kind of a way. It does lend itself to some apt analogies with, like, birth. Which is what a launch really is. A birthing ritual. The steam will be atmospheric and if it does ruin the nice paper it could at least make a good story and something to remember Folly 001 by.”
- Claire Mabey, for The SpinOff
“They were “basically three women who nobody knew in the industry, who had no literary credibility.” And who, with no prior literary publishing experience, decided to create a brand new literary journal. Broadmore, fellow co-founder and Marketing Director Tiana Jones and Art Director Dana Turner, faced skepticism and patch protection in starting the journal. But none of that stopped them in their pursuit of a new kind of literary journal that they say embraces funny, silly and sexy writing that they feel hasn’t had a home in Aotearoa.”
- Verity Johnson, for The Big Idea