A NEW platform for North East creativity has lift-off tonight at Northumbria University.

It is called The Bleed and it is billed as a new magazine “designed to inspire people to pick up their pens, to write and draw, to point their cameras at the world, to open their eyes, to tell their stories and, most important of all, to create”.

It was inspired by the work of postgraduate students in the university’s school of arts and social sciences but has now taken on a life of its own.

The Bleed is billed as “a showcase for new and original voices in fiction, poetry, illustration, photography, drama, journalism and more...”

Its eclectic aims are reinforced by a quote from the playwright Samuel Beckett who suggested that the task of the artist was find a form to accommodate the chaos and the mess of creativity.

They’ve had a good stab at it – if that’s an appropriate choice of words. The Bleed, issue one, has a striking cover illustration by Bryan Talbot, Sunderland’s renowned graphic artist, and 40 pages.

There’s a special launch event tonight at 6.15pm in the Squires Building at Northumbria University and all are welcome to join Bryan Talbot and others there.

The Bleed has a website, www.thebleed.co.uk, and it is to be available on campus and at venues across Newcastle and Gateshead.