''Spike Magazine'' is an

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor ...

journal which began in 1995, founded by its editor Chris Mitchell in Brighton,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Updated monthly, its motto is "picking the brains of popular culture", though it has an

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator o ...

inclination.

Description

The focus of the magazine is mainly literary, and it features an extensive and eclectic back catalogue of book reviews, all available from the site's front page. It also includes features on a variety of subjects (including cinema and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

), music reviews, interviews, and the ongoing "

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

" journal Splinters ''Spike'' has had contributors from around the world over the years making for very varied outlooks. The general tone however tends towards the counter-cultural, controversial and

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...

, with a frequent championing of lesser-known writers. Nonetheless, Spike has managed to obtain interviews with a variety of big-name authors over the years, including

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass me ...

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

Jeff Noon Jeff Noon (born 1957 in Droylsden, Lancashire, England) is a British novelist, short story writer and playwright whose works make use of word play and fantasy. Noon's speculative fiction books have ties to the works of writers such as Lewis ...

Iain Banks Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of '' The Wasp Facto ...

Hubert Selby Jr Hubert "Cubby" Selby Jr. (July 23, 1928 – April 26, 2004) was an American writer. Two of his novels, ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' (1964) and ''Requiem for a Dream'' (1978) explore worlds in the New York area and were adapted as films, both of whi ...

Gitta Sereny Gitta Sereny, CBE (13 March 192114 June 2012) was an Austrian-British biographer, historian, and investigative journalist who came to be known for her interviews and profiles of infamous figures, including Mary Bell, who was convicted in 196 ...

, P. J. O'Rourke,

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...

Nick Hornby Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir '' Fever Pitch'' and novels '' High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work ...

, and

Julie Burchill Julie Burchill (born 3 July 1959) is an English writer. Beginning as a staff writer at the ''New Musical Express'' at the age of 17, she has since contributed to newspapers such as ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Sunday Times'' and ''The Guardia ...

. It contains separate sections devoted to news on Ballard, Noon, Self and

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...

. Some of the main writers over the years have been Chris Mitchell himself, Stephen Mitchelmore, Ben Granger, Ismo Santala (the former three also having been regular contributors to the Splinters blog), Chris Hall, Gary Marshall, Eric Saeger, Ian Hocking, Robin Askew, Nick Clapson, Jayne Margetts, Craig Johnson
Katrina Gulliver
Nathan Cain, Nick Clapson, Dan Coxon and Adam Baron. ''Spike Magazine'' ceased to run new articles in 2012, but the archive is still available online.

External links

Spike Magazine

Splinters

britlitblogs.com
In October 2010
a free 600 page PDF anthology
of the best of Spike Magazine was made available to download from the site.

Independent Spike media profiles

Good Web Guide overviewZine-o-Rama overview
1995 establishments in the United Kingdom Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines published in the United Kingdom Book review magazines British literature websites Magazines established in 1995 Cultural magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines disestablished in 2012 Mass media in East Sussex {{UK-lit-mag-stub