Matters of succession
*STOP PRESS! As of April 2024 editorial handover has been negotiated for later in the year. Please watch this space or the magazine for further details as available*
In NE173 last September I issued an invitation to anyone who might like to take on the editorial role of NE. I was concerned that I had entered an age group in which, however fit one might feel, unexpected health conditions might occur which would have a knock-on effect on the magazine and its readers as well as myself and associates. And indeed, being generally very fit and active (vegetarian for 50+ years, slight build, non-smoker, light drinker, keen medium-distance (10-15mls) walker, with no family history of heart problems), I wasn’t expecting the heart attack that struck less than three weeks after that issue was published.
Did I get a response to my invitation? Yes, but unfortunately only for assistance with the database, mailing out, and so on. They offered a potential lifeline, but didn’t lift my spirits as much as I hoped. Pondering over the winter, I recalled how I’ve had nudges from the subconscious in the past, put them aside, and later wished I hadn’t. I could live for years after a heart attack, many do, but after reflection over the winter I have decided to interpret the episode as a friendly warning (after all I’m still here) that a change is needed.
So I am now giving in my notice of retirement, and as a magazine with an annual subscription, that means that NE178 in December will be the last NE to appear in a run that began in 1980 (unless any last-minute interventions appear). Subscription prices will fall accordingly by a quarter per issue, and for anyone who has ‘preloaded’ their sub, we will endeavour to refund at the close.
Should anyone decide to jump in but is a bit concerned about sourcing articles, I would be happy to use my contacts to help out if I can and be a bridge for the database for a short while. I’ll be frank: it’s a lot of work and a previous handover floundered. I enjoy it, and I’ve had a great set of volunteers and writers that have supported the mag and made producing a new issue every quarter for the last 33 years a highly satisfying undertaking. Mind you, I’ve had the advantages of not having a full-time job, children or mortgage! For there’s also no money in it, at least not in its current configuration; and there’s no fat bank account that a new editor would inherit. A more commercial person or team than I might be able to change that if desired.
We were set up as a regional magazine for northern Britain, but any reader will know that is no longer the case as regards content; we deal with our topic areas wherever they crop up around the world, and reflect an international readership. That means a new team need not necessarily to be based in the North, or even in the UK.
It would be hoped that any new editorial team would keep to NE’s topic area, commitment to acceptable levels of quasi-academic rigour, and broad political alignment with leftist and green perspectives. Nonetheless, the future tack of NE would of course be up to whoever’s at the helm. All aspects of finance, banking, and so on will be up to the new editor – NE could be an existing neo-antiquarian brand with a new slate for a new era.
The website and NEREaders e-group will continue to operate for the foreseeable future even after the magazine closes, and we expect to continue adding material to it, such as articles old and new, and back issues.
So, any expressions of interest… Contact Us
But otherwise, 2024 will be a winding down of a venerable institution in the alternative antiquarian landscape.