Jason Cowley – författare

No British periodical or weekly magazine has a richer and more distinguished archive than the New Statesman, which has long been at the centre of British political and cultural life. If not quite at the centre, then at the most energetic, subversive end of the progressive centre-left. Kingsley Martin, editor of the New Statesman from 1930 to 1960, wrote that "life on the NS was always a battle. After all, I had been brought up as a dissenter and I tended to see all problems as moral issues."The magazine has notably recognized and published new writers and critics, as well as encouraged major careers. Many of the most notable political and cultural writers of the recent past have written for the New Statesman. Many have been on its staff or were associates of it: HG Wells, George Bernard Shaw, JM Keynes, VS Pritchett, Paul Johnson, Claire Tomalin, Christopher Hitchens and John Gray. The most significant intellectual and cultural currents of the age ripple through its pages. There is, too, a rich history of poetry and fiction and illustration and cartoons to draw on, from Low's sketches of the great and the good to the gonzo art of Ralph Steadman and the bold cover illustrations and caricatures of André Carrilho.The book is more than an anthology. It tells the story of the New Statesman, from the eve of the First World War to the long aftermath of 9/11 and the populist upheavals of today. It looks forward as well as back, offering a unique and unpredictable perspective on politics, literature and the world.

A Sunday Times Paperback of the YearJason Cowley, editor-in-chief of the New Statesman, examines contemporary England through key news stories from recent times. He reveals what they tell us about the state of the nation and to answer the question Who Are We Now?'I can’t tell you how refreshing it is in these polarised times to read a book on politics that doesn’t have an axe to grind . . . an essential read.' - The Sunday TimesSpanning the years since the election of Tony Blair’s New Labour government to the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, the book investigates how England has changed and how those changes have affected us.Cowley weaves together the seemingly disparate stories of the Chinese cockle-pickers who drowned in Morecambe Bay, the East End Imam who was tested during a summer of terror, the pensioner who campaigned against the closure of her GP’s surgery and Gareth Southgate’s transformation of English football culture. And in doing so, he shows the common threads that unite them, whether it is attitudes to class, nation, identity, belonging, immigration, or religion.He also examines the so-called Brexit murder in Harlow, the haunting repatriation of the fallen in the Iraq and Afghan wars through Wootton Bassett, the Lancashire woman who took on Gordon Brown, and the flight of the Bethnal Green girls to Islamic State. Fleshing out the headlines with the very human stories behind them.Through these vivid and often moving stories, Cowley offers a clear and compassionate analysis of how and why England became so divided and the United Kingdom so fragmented, and how we got to this cultural and political crossroads. Most importantly, he also shows us the many ways in which there is genuine hope for the future.

Reaching for Utopia brings together insightful essays and profiles chronicling the remarkable political and cultural transformations of the last decade – from the fall of Gordon Brown, to the rise of Corbyn and the radical left, to Brexit. Cowley is fascinated by the men and women who are creating the history of our era as well as those who document it. He has met and interviewed nearly all the major political players shaping and changing the way we live today.The book features fascinating, wide-ranging narrative profiles of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Ed Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn, Alex Salmond, Nigel Farage, David Cameron, George Osborne and Theresa May. Cowley is unusual in having access to party leaders and prime ministers on both the left and right.The book also features penetrating essays on writers such as George Orwell, John le Carré, Kazuo Insiguro, and Ian McEwan, personal essays, an investigation into the so-called Brexit Murder, and a striking conversation with the political philosopher Michael Sandel.Cowley is one of the most influential journalists in Britain. He is notable for being both a political and literary journalist. And he also writes about sport, especially football, and covered the 2006 World Cup in Germany for the Observer.He has been widely credited with transforming the fortunes of the New Statesman, which in 2017 has recorded its highest print circulation for nearly 40 years as well as becoming a major digital title with rapidly growing online profile. According to the European Press Prize, ‘Cowley has succeeded in revitalising the New Statesman and re-establishing its position as an influential political and cultural weekly. He has given the New Statesman an edge and a relevance to current affairs it hasn't had for years.’In 2017, at the British Society of Magazine Editors awards, Cowley won the editor of the year award (politics and current affairs) for the third time. In 2018, he launched New Statesman America.