We’ve decided to do our bit for the ‘Big Society’ by broadening LeftLion out to a whopping 48 pages for issue 41. It’s something we hope to be able to do more often, although our August issue will retain it’s more familiar slender frame because it’s traditionally a ‘quiet’ time. Our aim is to eventually go monthly, and expanding content is one way in which we are able to monitor if this is feasible.
Culturally, Nottingham is being incredibly demanding at the moment and we simply couldn’t cover everything in 32 pages. In addition to Southwell and the Nottingham Poetry Series, it’s also Lowdham season. We covered the latter by featuring the eight shortlisted authors for the inaugural East Midlands Book Award. A lot of thought went into matching reviewers with books. Aly Stoneman looked at Mark Goodwin’s Shod because he’s been selected as her mentor for her first poetry collection; Anthony Cartwright kindly reviewed Maria Allen’s Before the Earthquake as they are both published by Tindal Street, whereas Michael Eaton covered Ann Featherstone’s The Newgate Jig because he gave her critical feedback on her original proofs. These give the reviews an added dimension that may not be picked up by all readers but is personally pleasing.
The magazine also represents a hat trick of sorts as it includes three people I’ve been after for ages.
1. Marcus Clarke is an eccentric puppeteer who loves his profession and his city in equal measures. Puppetry gets bad press but he gives great copy because he exudes passion and people love this no matter what the topic. It also meant we had a fantastic option with regards to the cover, getting him to create a Punch and Judy type stage with our featured interviews. This looked fantastic although it did create a lot of stress as interviewees can pull out at the last minute meaning the cover has to be remade from scratch.
2. The Thompson Brothers are Nottingham’s most opinionated Greengrocers and have built up a reputation for politely harassing customers. At long last we’ve found a space for them to rant on topical issues which has given a much needed revamp to the Nottingham Voices column. LeftLion is a celebration of local oddities, and they don’t come any odder than fifty-year-old twins who love Royalty. ‘Marvellous!’
3. Finally, after nearly two years of trying, I got my ‘voice of the Sumac’ in the form of Pat Smith – the vegan catering campaigners. Sumac members are notoriously difficult to interview because they are rightly suspicious of the media and because as a non-hierarchical organisation, nobody wants to be seen as a spokesperson. Two years ago I interviewed a young lad called Ben Sharkley and a couple of his friends. They came around for a drink and a chat, I recorded the interview, and then the next day they pulled out. Ben was tragically killed in 2010 by a drink driver and it has always been a deep regret that I deleted the interview as it would have been great to have shared this with his friends.
Pat Smith works tirelessly for many causes and has helped to ‘normalise’ veganism. We chatted about Mark Kennedy, the Ratcliffe-on-Soar debacle and why he has dedicated his life to helping others. It was imperative that Pat felt comfortable with how he was represented and so was given a copy of the edited interview prior to print to ensure he was happy with it. I can’t abide cheap journalism and this ensured fair representation. It isn’t something I would do with all interviewees but here, trust really was essential.
My literature interview for the magazine came in the form of Dom Joly who has written about ‘dark tourism.’ This was to help promote his show at the Playhouse on the 21st June – who we’ve given a big push in the mag because we don’t want a theatreless city like our friends down the A52. Fame can be cruel and I was interested in how it must feel to be reduced to a catchphrase, particularly given that he started out as a political researcher for the New Statesman, and has worked at the UN and with Mark Thomas. Joly went to school with Osama Bin Laden so I was particularly interested in his thoughts on the farcical smear campaign that has surrounded Bin Laden’s death.
Finally, never underestimate ‘chance’ when it comes to mag content. Christy Fearn, a local Bryon and Shelley expert, emailed me about a forthcoming talk she was giving just as another interviewee pulled out. From this was born the idea to imagine a conversation of one-upmanship between Byron and Shelley that gave information on their various exploits as a means of promoting her talks. So often a random email from someone triggers an idea for content. It’s the reason it’s important that journalists keep in contact with authors and authors keep in contact with journalists. So if we haven’t spoken for a bit, get pestering me now!