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What excellent company you are!

I have been devoted to your podcast for over a year; it could be improved only by being more frequent. Every book I have ordered from you has been a delight; nothing disappoints. I receive your emails with pleasure, and that’s saying a lot. Slightly Foxed is a source of content . . . ’

K. Nichols, Washington, USA

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On the Wings of History

Kristin Lavransdatter is a love story – but a masterly one that begins, in the first book of the trilogy, with Kristin swiftly breaking her society’s norms of patriarchy, duty and honour in order to give herself over to erotic passion. Undset viewed eroticism – a desire so profound that life would be intolerable if it were not satisfied – as part of the spiritual sphere. Kristin falls, in every way, for the handsome but clearly unsuitable Erlend Nikulaussøn, although her father has already pledged her to the thoroughly decent Simon Darre. When the wedding between Kristin and Erlend is finally allowed to happen, at the end of the first book, it is an excruciating affair, the bridal crown weighing so heavily on Kristin’s head that she can hardly sit upright at the banquet.

SF magazine subscribers only

Man of Many Lives

‘The Connoisseur of Harris’ was Hugh Kingsmill. In 1919 he published a novel called The Will to Love which he had written in a prisoner-of-war camp. Harris appears in it as Ralph Parker, a man whose friendship ‘was a craving for an audience, his love, lust in fancy dress’. Yet ‘in the ruins of his nature, crushed but not extinct, something genuine and noble struggled to express itself ’. Harris was in his seventies when he died in the summer of 1931 and Kingsmill’s biography of him was published the following year. They had known each other for twenty years and the book was one of those Lives that contain two main characters: the subject and the writer.

SF magazine subscribers only

Cellmates

As I remember it, Vole was already up and running when Lewis Thomas arose in our midst like some ecological genie, a combination of gentle evangelist and stand-up comedian. It was 1977, and Richard Boston, founder of the magazine, arrived at an early editorial gathering bearing a copy of Thomas’s book The Lives of a Cell, with the clear message that it was required reading. It had recently been awarded, unprecedentedly, two US National Book Awards, one in the Arts category, the other in Science, and been described in The New Yorker as a ‘shimmering vision’.

SF magazine subscribers only

Cover Artist: Issue 61, Faith Chevannes, ‘Fox & Sheep, Tamar Valley’

Faith Chevannes is from the Tamar valley on the Devon and Cornwall border. Her drypoint prints and mixed media pieces are inspired by the spectacular landscape around her and reflect its ever-changing seasons, its wildlife and its ancient farming cycles.

1st September 2004

Slightly Foxed Issue 3: From the Editors

Since Slightly Foxed was launched, its office has been comfortably sited in Canonbury, a quiet part of North London with leafy roads and literary associations: George Orwell, Evelyn Waugh, Louis MacNeice and Nancy Mitford are just a few of the writers who have lived in its Georgian and early Victorian houses – usually during periods when they were somewhat down on their luck. Since then Canonbury has come up in the world, but there are still many writers living nearby.

- Gail Pirkis & Hazel Wood

From the editors

Bart van Es wins The Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize for The Cut Out Girl

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Biographers’ Club Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize 2018 is Bart van Es for The Cut Out Girl.

24th February 2019

‘I have just finished A House in Flanders by Michael Jenkins . . . ’

‘I have just finished A House in Flanders by Michael Jenkins. I bought it from you a couple of weeks ago and have cherished every single page from the start. It is a charming, evocative and wistful narrative, forming such a well of sympathy with the characters that I was quite unnerved at the end with Tante Yvonne’s demise. Books like this create strong and memorable images in mind and memory, evoking yearnings and emotions. It’s been a wonderful few days sinking into this beautiful little book and being cosseted with each turn of the page. This the third SFP book I own. In themselves, they are a perfect shape and size. Design and layout are excellent, illustrations delightful. It’s a joy simply to look at them with their neat little format and eye-soothing cream colour.’

- S. Hersey, Merseyside

From readers

Decoration for ‘The London Bookbinders’ (1950)

In Issue 60 Alan Bradley explored ‘literary criticism, character sketches and the byways of reading’ in Virginia Woolf’s The Common Reader. His article was illustrated with this fine bookish fellow by Gwen Raverat, which was originally produced as a decoration…

‘I have just finished listening to the most recent podcast . . .’

‘I have just finished listening to the most recent podcast and my only disappointment is that it is not three times as long. It is an absolute pleasure and I look forward to the 15th of every month now.’

‘With a good podcast . . .’

‘I listen to so many Podcasts but these I can’t live without: Futility Closet, the Slightly Foxed podcast, Astonishing Legends and Judge John Hodgman. With a good podcast, you begin to feel you really know the hosts. They are friends you have over for dinner and play board games with.’

‘Listening to the first two podcasts saved my sanity . . .’

‘Listening to the first two podcasts saved my sanity on a very long car trip from Virginia to Texas here in the states. The podcasts made me eagerly anticipate the long winter evenings in the new year with newly discovered books. Wonderful podcasts and I can’t wait to hear more.’

16th February 2019

‘I love good reading and a fine use of language . . . ’

‘I love good reading and a fine use of language, so when I discovered SF, I was immediately enchanted and ordered a sample issue. I've read half of issue 60 and I'm a convert. So pleased to announce that I've ordered a subscription and a copy of Drawn from Memory and Drawn from Life. Thank you for your excellent work!’

- E. Tennessen, New Mexico, United States

From readers

‘Episode 4 of your podcast has turned me into an addict . . . ’

‘Episode 4 of your podcast has turned me into an addict; very, very interesting and you all sound so nice – a counter-blast against the monstrous regiment of politicians we endure every day . . . Very best to you all and of course to the dogs.’

‘I have only just managed to listen to episode 4 of the podcast . . .’

‘I have only just managed to listen to episode 4 of the podcast as I moved house 3 weeks ago. I have been working out where to put my books, which involves difficult decisions. All my working life was spent with books (libraries, retail and library supply) so you might say they are an obsession. Thank you for your journal and the podcasts, both of which I love.’

Episode 4: Viewing Is Essential

Gail, Hazel and Jennie talk to the artist and illustrator (and master of pastiche) David Eccles about the craft of marrying image and text. The actress Petra Markham takes to the airwaves with Posy Simmonds, and the printmaker Angie Lewin recalls her experience of being commissioned for a Slightly Foxed cover.

32 minutes

‘I just wanted to say how very much I’m enjoying your podcast . . .’

‘I just wanted to say how very much I’m enjoying your podcast. What a wonderful idea and so interesting to hear how SF began, too. I'm sure many others have said this, but it really is like sitting around a big table with a group of friends having a chat.’