Slightly Foxed Issue 91: From the Editors

With autumn here and Christmas inexorably approaching, we’re reaching the end of the 2026 National Year of Reading, a campaign to get children – and others – reading for pleasure. This is a very different thing from learning to decode words to improve the national literacy statistics, the first being something that lasts a lifetime and the second something that learning to read can easily turn into. It is of course a cause close to our hearts, since reading for pleasure is what Slightly Foxed is about.

Certainly, there’s nothing quite like receiving a well-chosen book for Christmas, and we do hope that when you’re thinking of presents this year for your near and dear you’ll take advantage of the selection of classic memoirs in our lovely Slightly Foxed and Plain Foxed Editions, or of a gift subscription to the Quarterly itself. Not forgetting, for younger readers, our list of beautifully illustrated classic children’s books, including the magical stories of Denys Watkins Pitchford, the countryman who called himself ‘BB’, and Rosemary Sutcliff’s series of brilliantly evocative novels about the Romans in Britain.

This year too we have two new Slightly Foxed Christmas card designs by our illustrator Ella Balaam, whose work appears regularly in SF. The two discreetly foxed cards she designed for us last year flew off the shelves and this year’s designs are equally attractive, so do order in good time if you’re interested. And for 2027 Jennie has produced another of our popular calendars featuring a selection of seasonal covers from Slightly Foxed – a really cheering way to start each month, and a perfect small present.

R. C. Sherriff, the author of our autumn Slightly Foxed Edition (see p.14), is best known for his play Journey’s End, based on his experiences in