Aesthetica magazine
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Aesthetica is a national literary and arts magazine based in Yorkshire, England. It promotes emerging arts across the UK, and features contemporary writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers. It was first launched in 2003 and is published quarterly with support from the Arts Council of England
It was initially co-founded by Cherie Federico and Dale Donley, who met whilst studying at York St John College (now York St John University) in 2002. Funded by 'Arts For All', their initial intention was to promote creativity, equality and diversity within the literary arts in and around the York area. They did not expect the magazine would go national, let alone international, but its focus and intended audience have since become much wider. Cherie Federico continues to act as overall managing editor, whilst Dale Donley is responsible for marketing and advertising.
The magazine is an A4 glossy magazine, which has excerpts that are published on the internet. Since it was launched in 2003, it has grown from a small local publication to being sold in all Borders bookstores across the UK, and has a growing international readership. It reports on what is happening in 'the arts' and includes information and articles around contemporary themes. The magazine now includes poetry, prose, articles, reviews, drama, interviews, photography and art from contributors as far away as Mexico, India, Argentina, China and the United Arab Emirates.
Aesthetica has been named as the UK’s fastest growing literary and arts magazine (Robards Report, 2005). It was a recommended publication by BBC’s 'Get Writing' project and Channel 4’s Ideas Factory and was awarded the NCB Enterprise Fellowship 2005 funded by Yorkshire Forward.
The magazine has also been involved with a number of events, shows and interviews to promote emerging writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers. Aesthetica Education was set up in autumn 2005 to organise workshops and creative sessions in order to encourage wider participation in the arts. This includes visual arts and various forms of creative writing and expression with a variety of age groups and communities from young people to adults and the elderly. Aesthetica also provides a research and consultancy service to UK arts organisations and an advisory and editing service for poets and authors
Also associated with the magazine is 'The Speakers' Corner', a regular open-mic venue for the performance of poetry, comedy and the spoken word. It is held every second Wednesday of each month at 7.30 pm at The Yorkshire Terrier, a pub in Stonegate, York. The organisers came together through Aesthetica Magazine's previous events to offer a platform for up and coming performers, comedians, poets and dramatists.
