LeftLion

LeftLion is put together by a range of creatives who all either live in or have links to the city of Nottingham. Most of these contribute on a voluntary basis.

Contributors have included Al Needham, actor Paul Kaye, Miles Hunt (lead singer of The Wonder Stuff), Nicola Monaghan, Tom Hathaway (author of Full Bacon Jacket), Rob Cutforth (award-winning Canadian blogger), Wayne Burrows, Ash Dilks, Jennie Syson, Andrew 'MulletProofPoet' Graves, Nathan Miller and Roger Mean.

The current editorial team consists of Sophie Gargett and Gemma Cockrell. Previous editors have included George White, Bridie Squires, Alison Emm, Al Needham, and Jared Wilson.

The magazine's artistic team is run by Alan Gilby and Natalie Owen, and features regular contributions from Raphael Achache, Si Mitchell, Rob White, Rikki Marr, and Dominic Murray. Cover artists in 2013 included Jon Burgerman and Jon Blanche.

People who have been interviewed in the pages of their magazine include Derren Brown, Alan Moore, Public Enemy, Paul Smith, The Prodigy, Juliette Lewis, Roots Manuva, Dizzee Rascal, David Nobbs, Noel Fielding, Ed Byrne, Shane Meadows, Jonathan Glazer, Klaxons, Jon McGregor, Alex Hales, Alice Oswald, Alexei Sayle, Sir Andrew Motion, Alan Sillitoe and The Sheriff of Nottingham.

They were the only media organisation who ever interviewed Frank Robinson and the last publication to interview Nottingham author Alan Sillitoe[3] and journalist Ray Gosling.

In late 2006 and 2007, LeftLion was nominated for a series of awards including Best Free Music Magazine by Record of the Day, Ambassadors of Nottingham by BBC Radio Nottingham.[4] The Nottingham Evening Post referred to them as "the high priests of Nottingham culture".

In 2009, LeftLion won the 'Writing and Publishing' award at the Nottingham Creative Business Awards, in a ceremony held at the Nottingham Council House on 7 October 2009. They were also runners-up for the award of Creative Business of the Year.[5]

In 2012 The Guardian cited LeftLion as being partially responsible for an "artistic boom" in Nottingham in an interview with Game of Thrones actor Joe Dempsie who also said: "It's a great paper. It's played a massive part in Nottingham's sense of creative identity right now."[6]

In 2013, the publication celebrated its tenth anniversary with BBC's East Midlands Today running a feature interview,[7] and BBC Online running a photo gallery.[8]

In 2018 LeftLion celebrated their fifteenth birthday by releasing their 100th printed issue and then a book titled LeftLion: 100 Covers, which gathered together the cover artwork from their back catalogue.[9]

LeftLion also sponsors free music nights at venues in the city featuring bands from the area, a weekly pub quiz and has produced a series of podcasts and live literature events. During 2006 LeftLion worked with "A Drop In The Ocean", a citywide music festival that raised £27,200 for charity.

Musical acts and artists that have played at LeftLion events include Liam Bailey, Jake Bugg, Thepetebox, Natalie Duncan, Amusement Parks on Fire, Thepetebox, Lightspeed Champion, The Hellset Orchestra, Love Ends Disaster!, Rapunzel MAP, Bent, Crazy Penis, The Smears, Alice Rock, Model Morning, Old Basford, The Elementz, Cappo, The Deltarays and Kids In Tracksuits.

• LeftLion Extravaganza BBC Review
• Ambassadors of Nottingham nomination by the BBC