"All happiness depends on courage and work."
—Honoré de Balzac
Zimmer Magazine is a physical and digital independent magazine rooted in a curiosity to widen the literature world around us. Our mission is to uncover literature you didn’t know you were missing, exploring the spaces where stories, culture, and critical thought intersect.
Since being founded in 2023 by Heidi Kewin and Vincent Zimmer, we’ve built a community of readers and writers who believe that literature is not just read, but lived. Through our features, poetry, articles, and creative work, we invite you to slow down, read deeper, and discover something you didn’t expect to find.
Access to the print magazine can be found through subscription.
You can follow along to see what we get up to on our Instagram @zimmermagazine.
Thanks for tagging along.
Literature Editor
Millie Harris studied English Literature at York St. John University, graduating with a First Class Honours, alongside reviewing books for Zimmer’s Book of the Month column. As Literature Editor, she curates and plans the magazine’s Literature section, ensuring each month is filled with published pieces from our fantastic writers. Aside from her work at Zimmer, Millie is extremely passionate about film, books and all things media. She spends her spare time researching, reading and being with her cat. Millie has happily been a part of Zimmer since the beginning and has loved every moment!
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Dean J. Hill is a passionate advocate for emerging writers, serving as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Zimmer and a Senior Reader for the renowned American journal Ploughshares. In these roles, he is dedicated to discovering and amplifying fresh, creative voices in both fiction and non-fiction. His editorial eye is informed by his work as a postgraduate researcher at the University of Birmingham, where he explores the connections between literature, modernism and contemporary technology such as Artificial Intelligence. He is the 2024 recipient of the Dickens Society's Partlow Prize, and an avid reader with wide-ranging interests from timeless classics and Victorian literature to gothic tales and poetry.
Reviews Editor
Mónica Fernández Jiménez holds an MA in Literary Studies from the University of Leiden and a PhD in English from the University of Valladolid, where she worked as a lecturer of Contemporary Literature for five years. She especialised in Caribbean Literature from an American perspective, arguing in her thesis that the colony/metropolis paradigm does not do justice to the intricate geopolitical relations of the American hemisphere. She is currently based in the UK where she has acquired experience as a translator, copy editor, and ESOL teacher, while not ceasing to develop an academic career though on an independent basis. Her role as Reviews Editor allows her to learn about the contemporary publishing scene and its newest releases.
Where it began
An internship at a national newspaper taught me a great deal about magazine journalism, but also something much more important: so much of our journalism repeats itself. The same structures, the same names, topics, gloomy tones. I kept thinking... how do these writers sit here each day writing the same stuff? Why aren't we seeing any stories no one is telling? Rihanna is pregnant again, no way. But what about Franz Kafka going veggie for activism? Or the absent presences of Black women in the theatre? Why isn't anyone talking about that?
I like to think — and please, for my little fantasy world, don't tell me if you disagree — that this magazine is an answer to those questions. The aim is to show you something that invites you to see the world at a different angle. Journalism can be intelligent without being inaccessible, thoughtful without being heavy and surprising without being sensational, and with Zimmer, we're trying to show you beautiful people that there is always something worth discovering if you take some time to look for it.
If you find even the smallest thing to pique your interest, then we've done the job just right.
Behind the name
Zimmer is Vincent's last name. It was my decision to name the magazine 'Zimmer', but only because I thought it was a cool word (and it is!). After some thinking and small analysis, I was informed that 'Zimmer' means 'room' in German. When you say 'Vincent Room', it doesn't sound as cool though.
We like to think of this little magazine as a little room, but it would be very well decorated with one of those bookshelf ladder things. I'm sure many can relate when I say you can read a magazine or publisher sometimes and you don't feel a connection to it — like you're a number in a sea of hundreds of buyers. But here, we care a lot about each person, as if we're all sitting in a room on the floor with a really nice rug, talking about what we thought about X author's new book. It's a special community we've built here, and even as it grows, you're always welcome. We'd love to get to know you!
So it's a little room. Maybe in the future we'll have to upgrade to a bigger premises, but it's perfectly okay like this just for now.
Join the team
Volunteer Culture Editor
Volunteer Culture Editor
Volunteer Journalist - Literature
Volunteer Journalist - Literature
Explore more of our mission
The importance of decolonising your bookshelf
The importance of decolonising your bookshelf
Zimmer Magazine's stance on generative artificial intelligence
Zimmer Magazine's stance on generative artificial intelligence
Get in touch
Poetry & article submissions and enquiries: hiya@zimmermagazine.com - please go to our submissions page for more info.
Advertisement and collaboration: heidi@zimmermagazine.com
Sending us your book: monica@zimmermagazine.com
Opportunities to volunteer: heidi@zimmermagazine.com
Literature enquiries: millie@zimmermagazine.com
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Photography by Mason C @thatcameraguymc
