Cencrastus was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature, at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a lecturer in the English Department, with the express intention of perpetuating the devolution debate.Gunn, Linda and McCleery, Alistair (2009), Wasps in a Jam Jar: Scottish literary magazines and political culture 1979–99, in A. McNair, & J. Ryder (eds.), Further from the Frontiers: Crosscurrents in Irish and Scottish Studies, Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies, University of Aberdeen, Its title, which refers to the mythical curly snake, was inspired by Hugh MacDiarmid's poetry collection, To Circumjack Cencrastus, published in 1930.MacDiarmid, Hugh (1930), To Circumjack Cencrastus, William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh
The magazine was published three times a year. Its founders were Christine Bold, John Burns, Bill Findlay, Sheila G. Hearn, Glen Murray and Raymond J. Ross.Cencrastus No. 1, Autumn 1979, p. 1, Editors included Glen Murray (1981–1982), Sheila G. Hearn (1982–1984), Geoff Parker (1984–1986) and Cairns Craig (1987). Raymond Ross was publisher and editor of the magazine for nearly 20 years (1987–2006). Latterly the magazine was published with the help of a grant from the Scottish Arts Council. It ceased publication in 2006.
Contributors included Christopher Harvie,Harvie, Christopher (1982), Beyond Bairns' Play: A New Agenda for Scottish Politics, in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), Cencrastus No. 10, Autumn 1982, pp. 11–14, Duncan Macmillan,Macmillan, Duncan (1979), The Tradition of Painting in Scotland, in Cencrastus No. 1, Autumn 1979, pp. 36–38, Stephen Maxwell,Maxwell, Stephen (1989), Scotland International, in Ross, Raymond J. (ed), Cencrastus No. 35, Winter 1989, pp. 15–18, Brian Holton, Holton, Brian (1981), Men o the Moss Flow: extract from a novel by Shi Naian edited by Jiu Shengtan translated from the Chinese into Scots, in Murray, Glen (ed.), Cencrastus No. 7, Winter 1981-82, pp. 2–5, Craig Beveridge,Beveridge, Craig (1981), A Case of Hardened Political Arteries: Scottish Political Culture, in Murray, Glen (ed.), Cencrastus No. 5, Summer 1981, pp. 14–15, Ronald Turnbull,Beveridge, Craig and Turnbull, Ronald (1982), Inferiorism, in Murray, Glen (ed.), Cencrastus No. 8, Spring 1982, pp. 4–5, Colin McArthur,McArthur, Colin (1981), Breaking the Signs: 'Scotch Myths' as Cultural Struggle, in Murray, Glen (ed.), Cencrastus No. 7, Winter 1981–82, pp. 21–25, Randall Stevenson,Stevenson, Randall (1981), Scottish Theatre Company: First Days, First Nights, in Murray, Glen (ed.), Cencrastus No. 7, Winter 1981–82, pp. 10–13, Glenda Norquay,Anderson, Carol and Norquay, Glenda (1984), Superiorism, in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), Cencrastus No. 15, pp. 8–10, Jim Gilchrist,Gilchrist, Jim, The School of Scottish Studies, in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), Cencrastus No. 12, Spring 1983, pp. 15–17, Freddie AndersonAnderson, Freddie (1983), The Last of the People's Palaces, in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), Cencrastus No. 14, Autumn 1983, pp. 11–19, and Fred JohnstonJohnston, Fred, "The Native", in Bold, Christine (ed.), Cencrastus No. 6, Autumn 1981, pp. 22–23,
Cencrastus is one of the cultural and political magazines researched by the Scottish Magazines Network.
References
Records deposited in National Library of Scotland GB233/Acc.11509, Acc.10396 and Acc.12644