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Slightly Foxed is a very civilized way to appreciate books and writers. No shouting, no hype, just beautifully presented enthusiasms, most of which are irresistible.’ – Michael Palin

About Slightly Foxed

Slightly Foxed is the highly-acclaimed yet good-humoured and unstuffy literary magazine that introduces its readers to good books from both the past and the present. Contributors include Penelope Lively, Robert Macfarlane, Margaret Drabble, Tim Pears, Kate Young, Diana Athill, Quentin Blake, Melissa Harrison and Adam Sisman.

Our readers enjoy the way Slightly Foxed opens up unexpected new horizons and they love the way it looks and feels – delightfully illustrated and printed on elegant cream paper. They love our beautifully produced series of classic memoirs and children’s books that have been allowed to slip out of print too. Our non-fiction list of cloth-bound limited-editions was launched in 2008 and encompasses some of the twentieth century’s best memoirs,  biographies and classic children’s fiction, with works by Edward Ardizzone, Gerald Durrell, Anne Fadiman, Graham Greene, Helene Hanff, Luke Jennings, Michael Holroyd, James Lees-Milne, Hilary Mantel, Gavin Maxwell, V. S. Pritchett, Dodie Smith and Rosemary Sutcliff, among others.

So whether you’re in search of stimulation, consolation or diversion, a treat for yourself or a present for a bookish friend or relative, then why not try an issue of Slightly Foxed or take out a subscription for yourself or as a gift for a bookish friend? If you love books as much as our regular readers do, you’ll be in excellent company.

A Taste of Slightly Foxed | Spring 2024

The Magazine

Our readers often tell us they can hardly wait for the next issue of Slightly Foxed – the only literary magazine that introduces them to good books from both the past and the present.

Companionable and unstuffy, Slightly Foxed is more like a well-read friend than a literary magazine. Each quarter it offers 96 pages of lively personal recommendations for books of lasting interest – books, including fiction, non-fiction and poetry, that have stood the test of time and have left their mark on the people who write about them. It’s an eclectic mix, and our contributors are an eclectic bunch too. In recent and forthcoming issues:

MARGARET DRABBLE spends time with Doris Lessing • ADAM FOULDS opens The Book of Disquiet • ALEXANDRA PRINGLE juggles Barbara Trapido • POSY FALLOWFIELD attends a wedding with Carson McCullers • ADAM SISMAN faces a Martian invasion with H. G. Wells • OLIVIA POTTS and Julia Child master the art of French cooking • GUSTAV TEMPLE is unnerved by Patricia Highsmith • DAISY DUNN and Mary Renault drink The Last of the Wine • JUSTIN MAROZZI takes a short walk in the Hindu Kush • Arthur Conan Doyle calls CHRISTOPHER RUSH to Baker Street • KATE YOUNG is haunted by Shirley Jackson • FLORA WATKINS acts as a go-between for L. P. Hartley • CHRIS SAUNDERS lampoons literary pretension with Stella Gibbons, and much more besides . . .

A subscription to the magazine also brings with it various benefits such as reduced membership fees for a number of literary clubs and organizations, such as the RSL, Gladstone’s Library and The London Library, discounts at various independent bookshops around the country and reduced rates on all books, back issues and merchandise produced by Slightly Foxed and all other books stocked in our online bookshop too.

Founded in 2004 by former John Murray Editors Gail Pirkis and Hazel Wood, this year sees the publication of our 80th issue. Since 2014, the magazine has sponsored the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize for the best first biography or literary memoir published each year. Slightly Foxed magazine and our books are made in the UK by traditional printers and book-binders.

‘The business of reading should please the hand and eye as well as the brain, and Slightly Foxed editions – books or quarterly – are elegant creations. Content follows form, offering new discoveries and old favourites to curious and discriminating readers.’
Hilary Mantel
SFE 53 & SFE 54 Laurie Lee, Cider with Rosie & As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning

Books

Slightly Foxed also brings back forgotten voices through its Slightly Foxed and Plain Foxed Editions, a series of beautifully produced little pocket hardback reissues of classic memoirs, all of them absorbing and highly individual.

For younger bookworms – and nostalgic older ones too – there’s the Slightly Foxed Cubs series, in which we’ve reissued Rosemary Sutcliff’s Roman and post-Roman novels, classic nature novels by BB and a number of Ronald Welch’s outstanding series of historical novels, in a handsome format with the original illustrations.

‘Produced by people who love books, for people who love books.’
Belgravia Books
Foxed Pod Episode 45 | Ronald Blythe: A Life Well Written

Podcast

Come behind the scenes with the staff of Slightly Foxed to learn what makes this unusual literary magazine tick, meet some of its varied friends and contributors, and hear their personal recommendations for favourite and often forgotten books that have helped, haunted, informed or entertained them.

Think of it as an audio version of the magazine, full of interesting bookishness, interviews and discussion – all set around our kitchen table, here in Hoxton Square.

‘A must listen for avid readers’

This companion podcast to the excellent quarterly periodical is a must listen for avid readers – and if you haven’t checked out the magazine you should do that too . . . The conversations are warm and illuminating, and guaranteed to add to your ever growing ‘to-read’ pile.
Laura Davis, Listen Up

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By signing up for our free email newsletter or our free printed catalogues, you will not automatically be subscribed to the quarterly magazine. To become a subscriber to Slightly Foxed: The Real Reader’s Quarterly Magazine, please visit our subscriptions page.

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Sign up to our e-newsletter

Sign up for dispatches about new issues, books and podcast episodes, highlights from the archive, events, special offers and giveaways.