London Review of Books

London Review of Books
Editor Mary-Kay Wilmers
Categories literature, politics
Frequency 24 per year
Circulation 48,555
Publisher Nicholas Spice
First issue 1979
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Website www.lrb.co.uk
ISSN 0260-9592

The London Review of Books (or LRB) is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.

Contents

History

The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A. Whitney Ellsworth.[1]

Its founding editors were Karl Miller, then professor of English at University College London, Mary-Kay Wilmers, formerly an editor at The Times Literary Supplement, and Susannah Clapp, a former editor at Jonathan Cape. For its first six months, it appeared as an insert in the New York Review of Books.[1] In May 1980, the London Review became an independent publication with an orientation described by one of its leading contributors as "consistently radical".[2]

Unlike The Times Literary Supplement (TLS), the majority of the articles the LRB publishes (usually fifteen per issue) are long essays. Some articles in each issue are not based on books, while several short articles discuss film or exhibitions. Political and social editorials or essays are frequent.

Mary-Kay Wilmers took over as editor in 1992. Average circulation per issue from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009 was 48,555.[3]

In January 2010, The Times reported that the magazine was £27m in debt to Wilmers' family trust, although the trust had "no intention of the lender seeking repayment of the loan in the near future".[4]

Contributors

Notable contributors have included:

Notes

  1. ^ a b Grimes, William. "A. Whitney Ellsworth, First Publisher of New York Review, Dies at 75". The New York Times, 20 June 2011
  2. ^ "The LRB has maintained a consistently radical stance on politics and social affairs", Alan Bennett, July 1996, in the Foreword to Jane Hindle (editor) London Review of Books: An Anthology, Verso, 1996. ISBN 1-85984-860-5
  3. ^ Media info on LRB website
  4. ^ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article6999923.ece

See also

External links