Ambit (magazine)

Ambit is a quarterly literary periodical published in the United Kingdom. The magazine was founded in 1959 by Martin Bax, a London paediatrician. The headquarters of the magazine is in London.

Overview

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 Despite the wealth of recognisable names, Ambit also features the work of new, unpublished writers.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.

Review

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.". The magazine professes not to include in its publication criticisms, essays, articles and lengthy reviews but prefers including real work, the likes and dislikes associated with the readers, creating never a dull moment and always sparking off feedbacks. To quote Carol Ann Duffy, "Ambit continues to surprise, exasperate and delight". Ambit is put together entirely from unsolicited, previously unpublished poetry and short fiction submissions.

External links

• Ambit website
• Interview with Martin Bax on history of Ambit
• Ambit statistics website
• Ambit about website