Ambit is a literary periodical published in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1959 by Dr Martin Bax, a London paediatrician.
Uniting art, prose, poetry and reviews, the magazine appears quarterly and is distributed internationally. Notable Ambit contributors have included J. G. Ballard, Eduardo Paolozzi, Ralph Steadman, Carol-Ann Duffy, Fleur Adcock, Peter Blake and David Hockney. Despite the wealth of recognisable names, Ambit also features the work of new, unpublished writers.
In the sixties Ambit became well known for testing the boundaries and social conventions and published many anti-establishment pieces, including an issue with works written under the influence of drugs. Ballard became fiction editor alongside Geoff Nicholson, and Duffy joined Henry Graham as Poetry Editor. Now after 40 years of publication Ambit’s editorial board consists of Bax, Kate Pemberton, Michael Foreman, Henry Graham, and Geoff Nicholson.
Ambit also publishes novels and poetry collections, including a new series ‘Here from Elsewhere’ by poets from elsewhere but now living in the UK. It is funded by the Arts Council England, and is a non-profit organisation.
Ambit magazine was described by artist Ralph Steadman as "a surreptitious peek inside a private world. Without it such vital sparks of inspiration could well be lost forever."
Ambit is put together entirely from unsolicited, previously unpublished poetry and short fiction submissions.