A Poe-inspired magazine dedicated to tales of suspense and intrigue has now launched by Irvine secondary pupils.

The Raven, compiled by a hard-working editors, sub-editors, writers and promoters at Irvine Royal Academy, compiles stories in tribute to the American master of terror Edgar Allan Poe – who learned English lessons by writing epitaphs from gravestones in Irvine kirkyard.

And the pupils have even launched an audio podcast for their work to be heard online.

Irvine Times:

English Teacher Chris Kelso said: “The magazine is part of our whole-school leadership initiative. Students undertake a project and work together to come up with a final product.

“We have a mentoring system in place where senior students will take on a young protégé and guide them through the role.

“Our team is comprised of editors, sub-editors, acquisitions, a promotion department, and contributors, so it’s a great opportunity for BGE and senior phase students to work together on a project – and for many of the budding young creatives, this will be their first opportunity to have work published.

“Edgar Allen Poe is such a momentous figure in the gothic canon – his work shaped a lot of what we see in contemporary American literature today.

Irvine Times:

“His influence reaches far and wide, but he is also one of Irvine’s most prestigious adopted sons. Poe was brought to Irvine to live with John Allan’s family.

“While it is not known exactly how long Poe stayed in Irvine, he did attend the school at Kirkgatehead, next to the parish church. It seemed like such an overlooked but significant aspect of the town’s literary heritage. For Irvine to have helped forge the imagination of such an icon of letters is worth celebrating - what better way than through a school journal.

“So far, we a 26-strong team of students working hard to make the journal as good as it can be.

“The stories we’ve had submitted so far are your typical genre tales - horror, science fiction, even some romance – but there’s also poetry, protest songs, and a centrefold of amazing artwork.

“Currently, we’re putting together a podcast for The Raven which features orations of some of the stories.”

Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story genre, came to be considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre, and contributed to the emerging genre of science fiction.