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''LeftLion'' is a monthly arts and culture magazine and website based in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, England. The publication takes its name from a stone statue in Nottingham's Old Market Square, also known colloquially as 'the left lion', which has served as a meeting point for city residents since Nottingham Council House was built in 1929. Originating in 2003 as a website with a focus on alternative culture, the magazine tends to be written in an informal or colloquial style, often including elements of Nottingham
dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
.


Overview and history

Established as a website in autumn 2003 by three childhood friends, Jared Wilson, Alan Gilby and Tim Bates, the first issue of the printed LeftLion magazine was published in 2004. For the next ten years, the printed magazine was published bi-monthly. Following a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, LeftLion began to be published on a monthly basis in 2014, from which time it has continued to be a monthly publication, distributed via venues, public buildings and businesses in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
and
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
. Monthly issues are often loosely themed; past themes have included the climate crisis,
well-being Well-being is what is Intrinsic value (ethics), ultimately good for a person. Also called "welfare" and "quality of life", it is a measure of how well life is going for someone. It is a central goal of many individual and societal endeavors. ...
and transhumanism. The online magazine, which is operated concurrently to the magazine and shares many of the same articles, is updated daily. Both the website and printed magazine contain listings of upcoming events in and around the city of
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
.


Contributors

Written and visual content in LeftLion is generally provided by a range of creatives who largely live within or have connections to the city of
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, a majority of whom contribute on a voluntary basis. Past contributors have included actor Paul Kaye, musician Miles Hunt, author Nicola Monaghan, and poet and producer Henry Normal. Nadia Whittome, the MP for Nottingham East, writes a monthly column in the magazine. The magazine is currently edited by Sophie Gargett and assistant edited by Caradoc Gayer. Previous editors have included George White, Bridie Squires, Alison Emm, Al Needham, and Jared Wilson. The magazine's artistic team is run by Alan Gilby and Natalie Owen.


Interviewees

As well as engaging with local creatives and people of interest, LeftLion has often interviewed prominent national and international figures. These include: actors
Bella Ramsey Isabella May Ramsey (born September 2003) is an English actor. They are known for their breakthrough role as young noblewoman Lyanna Mormont in the HBO fantasy television series '' Game of Thrones'' (2016–2019) and Ellie in the HBO post-ap ...
, Tom Blyth and Juliette Lewis; comedians Bill Bailey, Noel Fielding, Alexei Sayle, Richard Herring and Ed Byrne; musicians
Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...
,
The Prodigy The Prodigy are an English electronic music band formed in Braintree, Essex, in 1990 by producer, keyboardist, and songwriter Liam Howlett. The original line-up also featured Rapping, MC and vocalist Maxim (musician), Maxim, dancer and occasi ...
, Roots Manuva, Dizzee Rascal, Sleaford Mods, Jake Bugg, Jorja Smith and Klaxons; magician Derren Brown; writers
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...
, Gary Younge, Alan Sillitoe, Alice Oswald and Jon McGregor; fashion designer Paul Smith; poets Andrew Motion, Benjamin Zephaniah and Henry Normal; directors Shane Meadows and Jonathan Glazer; cricket player Alex Hales; and The Sheriff of Nottingham. LeftLion was the last publication to interview Nottingham author Alan Sillitoe and journalist Ray Gosling.


Awards and press

In late 2006 and 2007, ''LeftLion'' was nominated for a series of awards including Best Free Music Magazine by Record of the Day, Ambassadors of Nottingham by BBC Radio Nottingham. The '' Nottingham Evening Post'' referred to them as "the high priests of Nottingham culture". In 2009, LeftLion won the '
Writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
and
Publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
' award at the Nottingham Creative Business Awards, in a ceremony held at the Nottingham Council House on 7 October 2009. They were also runners-up for the award of Creative Business of the Year. In 2012
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
cited LeftLion as being partially responsible for an "artistic boom" in Nottingham in an interview with
Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...
actor Joe Dempsie who also said that the magazine "played a massive part in Nottingham's sense of creative identity." In 2013, the publication celebrated its tenth anniversary with
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's '' East Midlands Today'' running a feature interview, and BBC Online running a photo gallery. In 2018 LeftLion celebrated their fifteenth birthday by releasing their 100th printed issue and then a book titled LeftLion: 100 Covers, which gathered together the cover artwork from their back catalogue. In August 2023, LeftLion released their 20th anniversary issue, which featured several highlights of the magazine's first two decades.


Events

In addition to producing written content, videos and podcasts, LeftLion frequently sponsors and runs live cultural events in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
. During 2006 LeftLion worked with "A Drop In The Ocean", a citywide music festival that raised £27,200 for charity. Musical acts and artists that have played at LeftLion events include Liam Bailey, Jake Bugg, Thepetebox, Natalie Duncan, Amusement Parks on Fire, Thepetebox, Lightspeed Champion, Love Ends Disaster!, Bent and Crazy Penis.


References

{{Reflist


External links


LeftLion Extravaganza BBC ReviewAmbassadors of Nottingham nomination by the BBC
Visual arts magazines published in the United Kingdom Bi-monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Cultural magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 2003 Mass media in Nottingham