Ambit (magazine)
Ambit was a quarterly literary periodical published in the United Kingdom. The magazine was founded in 1959 by Martin Bax, a London novelist and consultant paediatrician.
Uniting art, fiction, poetry and reviews, and distributed internationally, the magazine appeared quarterly until going on indefinite hiatus in April 2023. Notable Ambit contributors have included J. G. Ballard, Edwin Brock, Eduardo Paolozzi, Ralph Steadman, Lionel Kearns, Stevie Smith, Henry Graham, Peter Porter, Carol Ann Duffy, Fleur Adcock, Carole Satyamurti, Julia Casterton, Peter Blake, and David Hockney, to name but a few. Despite the wealth of recognisable names, Ambit also featured the work of new, unpublished writers.
In the 1960s 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. Edwin Brock was poetry editor, and J. G. Ballard became fiction editor alongside, later, Geoff Nicholson. Henry Graham and Carol Ann Duffy joined Edwin Brock as poetry editors. Michael Foreman was art editor for 50 years. Across the magazine's history, Derek Birdsall, Alan Kitching, John Morgan Studio and Stephen Barrett were notable designers.
In 2013, poet became editor, successfully transitioning Ambit to gain charitable status, with the intention to continue Ambit's mission of using art and literature to expand upon the times. Former co-editor with Martin Bax, Kate Pemberton, became fiction editor, with poetry editors including Declan Ryan and Ralf Webb, and and Jean-Philippe Dordolo as art editors. The magazine held launches at the Tate Modern Gallery and was a regular in Soho, although much of the legacy of Ambit began at the Chelsea Arts Club. After seven years, Briony Bax became editor emeritus, having recruited author, poet and performer, Kirsty Allison first as managing editor, then as editor.
Kirsty Allison introduced Lias Saoudi as a guest editor for the first Ambit Pop issue, Ambit 243, which invited him to commission and expand on the Poems, Stories and Art legacy of Ambit. This issue published Rob Doyle, Jenni Fagan, Ben Myers, Wayne Horse, Neal Fox, Zaffar Kunial and more. The Art Editor was Mireille Fauchon, who introduced Stephen Barrett as designer.
Ambit was in continuous publication from 1959 to 2023. In this time, the magazine was the proud publisher of thousands of poets, fiction writers and artists. Despite this, Ambit remained a small enterprise with many volunteers and sparse resources but with an intense commitment to the work. Due to unwelcome financing factors including the loss of its archive sale and the death of a major patron, Ambit had to close its doors in April 2023. Ambit 249 was its last issue.