Jason Cowley (born 19 June 1965) is an English journalist,

magazine editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, ...

and writer. After working at the '' New Statesman'', he became the editor of ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'' in September 2007, while also remaining a writer on '' The Observer''. He returned to the ''New Statesman'' as its editor in September 2008.

Early life and education

Jason Cowley was born on 19 June 1965 in

Harlow Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upper ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Gr ...

, where he was brought up. His parents were Anthony Cowley and Lilian Cowley. He was educated at Latton Bush School, a former state comprehensive school in Harlow, followed by the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, from which he graduated in 1989 with a first-class degree in English and philosophy.

Early career

In the early 1990s, Cowley began publishing reviews, literary essays and articles in British newspapers and magazines before, including writing for ''

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddest ...

'' from 1992 to 1995. In 1996, he became a staff writer for '' The Times'', during which period he was a judge of the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

for fiction. In the summer of 1998, he became literary editor of the ''New Statesman''; later he was a contributing editor of the magazine. In 2001 and 2002 he served as a judge for the

Caine Prize The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 2 ...

, of which he is a council member. In 2003, Cowley joined the staff of ''The Observer'' as editor of ''The Observer Sport Monthly'' magazine and as a contributor. Under his editorship the magazine won several awards. He left ''The Observer'' to become editor of the literary magazine ''

in 2007.'' Cowley's novel, ''Unknown Pleasures'', was published by Faber and Faber in 2000 and a second book, a work of narrative non-fiction called ''The Last Game: Love, Death and Football'', was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

in spring 2009.

Editor of the ''New Statesman''

Cowley was appointed editor of the ''New Statesman'' on 16 May 2008. and took up his new position in September 2008. Under his editorship, the ''New Statesman''s print circulation increased from 23,000 to 33,000 by 2015, traffic to the magazine's website reached a new record high in June 2016, with 27 million page views and four million unique users, and the magazine has become profitable. In 2013 he edited ''The New Statesman Century: 100 Years of the Best and Boldest Writing on Politics and Culture''. It was published to celebrate the centenary of the ''New Statesman''. In 2018, ''Reaching for Utopia: Making Sense of an Age of Upheaval'' (Salt Publishing), a book of Cowley's political and cultural essays and profiles, was published. In 2019, he edited and wrote the introduction to ''Statesmanship: The Best of the New Statesman (1913–2019)'', which was published in hardback by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Although a man of the Left, Cowley's philosophy for the ''New Statesman'' on taking over was to explore ideas across the political spectrum, saying: "I want to use the pages of the magazine to explore political ideas on both left and right."

Awards and recognition

On 10 November 2009, he won the

British Society of Magazine Editors The British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) is a professional association of print and online magazine editors in the United Kingdom. Established in 1981, the BSME has 148 members. Its annual awards—the BSME Awards and the BSME Rising Stars ...

' Editor of the Year award in the Special Interest and Current Affairs Magazines category. The judges said that Cowley had transformed the ''New Statesman'' and "created issues of the magazine that were the envy of the industry". In 2010 and 2012, Cowley was shortlisted for the most coveted awards in the magazine industry, as Editor of the Year (consumer magazines) in the

PPA Awards The Professional Publishers Association (PPA), formerly known as the Periodical Publishers Association until 2011, is the main publishing industry body which promotes companies involved in the production of media, supporting the creative economy a ...

. In 2011, he was named editor of the year in the Newspaper & Current Affairs Magazines category at the British Society of Magazine Editors awards. In January 2013, Cowley was shortlisted for the European Press Prize editing award. The awards committee said: "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." He was named among Britain's most influential 500 people by Debrett's in association with '' The Sunday Times'' in 2015 and 2016. At the 2020 British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) awards, Cowley was named Current Affairs and Politics editor of the year for the fourth time, defeating rivals from ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

'', '' The Big Issue'' and ''

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

''. "In increasingly tribal times, Jason Cowley continues to champion independence of thought and diversity of opinion, challenging his audience and producing a magazine that’s imaginative, unpredictable and interesting," the BSME judges said upon presenting the award. In 2019 Cowley was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Journalism.

Works

* *''Reaching for Utopia: Making Sense of An Age of Upheaval'', Salt, 2018. *''Statesmanship: The Best of the New Statesman'', 1913–2019, W&N, 2019. *''Who Are We Now?: Stories of Modern England'', Picador, 2022

References

External links

Jason Cowley websiteJournalisted - Articles by Jason Cowley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowley, Jason 1966 births Living people Alumni of the University of Southampton British male journalists British magazine editors British sportswriters People from Harlow New Statesman people