Ars Notoria means the art of the notable. What events, people, and historical moments are worth writing about, worth depicting? History is usually written by the victors—the oppressors—and one of their highest-priority tasks is to erase memories of resistance to oppression. The question of historical memory is an important one for those of us who want change, who want social justice, who want a humane, democratic, egalitarian society.
Editors, writers, poets, and artists united in the sodality of Ars Notoria were disheartened when looking out over the media landscape. It seemed desolate. We used to rely on mainstream outlets for a semblance of balance. For a long time, many of us believed that the mainstream media would hold to professional standards. We were proved wrong, but we were not proved wrong because we were naïve. We hope for a more egalitarian future and will continue to hope and act on that hope.
In response to the view now held by most people on the left—that there is a neoliberal bias, even in the coverage of organisations like the BBC—a hodgepodge of amateur, web-based, alternative left-wing media outlets arose.
Something is still missing, however. It seemed to us that instead of criticising other people’s attempts at constructive engagement, it is up to us to step up to the crease and create our own website: a site that is broadly left and inclusive. We publish the work of idealists of all kinds: mystics, romantics, ecologists, poets, committed social democrats, liberals concerned with social responsibility, humane socialists, and communists.
We want to provide a creative outlet and a voice for many more people across the broad left spectrum, not just an angry echo chamber. We want to write and read articles with more depth and analysis. We want to include other cultural modes of expression like poetry, literature, comics, photography, music, food, and art. In short, we want to create a quality humane socialist magazine that entertains and edifies. The site you see before you is that idea in embryo. We hope to develop it into something worthwhile and then decide together on its final shape, making our own solid contribution to achieving progressive change in our countries’ fortunes in 2025 and beyond.
Statement
Ars Notoria magazine stands for recognition and understanding of the human and humane, the broad idea of humanity and Humane Socialism in an era of digital brutality. We only publish new and original fiction, essays, paintings, short stories, photography, art, and music: the impossible to pigeonhole, the non-commercial—work that refuses to adhere to formulas or mainstream expectations. The unifying ethic behind Ars Notoria’s output is that of socially progressive ideas: of humanism, of various forms of humane socialism, progressive social democracy, and of environmental awareness. We aim to broaden minds and inform, but also to entertain.
Fiercely opposed to elitism and privilege of any kind, we are in favour of understanding through the senses, not simply through lights, screens, statistics, and the disembodied and dyadic. We have faith in human perception and intelligence rather than in mechanisms, no matter how sophisticated. We are respectful of dialogue and community and believe in a generous spirit of co-operation and collaboration: build it and they will come. We aim for constant improvement, experimentation, and ever-greater freedom and social responsibility. We are open, but not to subversion or misuse. We are no one’s Trojan Horse.
If you feel you are in sympathy with us, if you like what we have done so far, if you feel you could contribute to our experiment, then please contact us at:
Editors
Phil Hall, Executive Editor / Politics & Comment Editor
Phil Hall is a college lecturer. He is a committed socialist and humanist. Phil was born in South Africa, where his parents were in the ANC. There, his mother was imprisoned, and his father was the first journalist from a national paper to be banned. Phil grew up in East Africa and settled in Kingston-upon-Thames. He has also lived and worked in Ukraine, Spain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi. Phil has blogged for The Guardian, the Morning Star, and several other publications, and he has written stories for The London Magazine. He started Ars Notoria in May 2020.
Paul Halas, Arts & Lifestyle Editor
Paul Halas is a writer whose escape from 1970s hippiedom was the discovery that he could invent stories. He spent forty years contributing to various Disney magazines and books, as well as a variety of non-Disney comics, books, and animated films. His retirement from commercial writing coincided with Jeremy Corbyn becoming the Labour Party leader (he is a self-described Corbynista) and becoming a Labour activist between 2015 and 2020… only to quit the party in despair soon after its recapture by the right wing of the organisation following the 2019 electoral tragedy. He has now rediscovered his first love – writing funny stories – which is just as well, as the real world isn’t very funny at present. Paul is also a very keen fisherman, an enthusiastic cook, a lover of art, and has recently completed his new book, The Rights of Man and Fish.
Peter Cowlam, Literary Editor
Peter Cowlam is a poet and novelist. As a novelist, he has won the Quagga Prize for Literary Fiction twice, most recently in 2018 for his novel New King Palmers, which sits at the intersection of old, crumbling empires and new, digital agglomerates. The Quagga Prize is awarded for independently published works of fiction. His other work has appeared in The Battersea Review, The San Francisco Review of Books, The Blue Nib, The Galway Review, Easy Street, Literary Matters, Eunoia Review, Valparaiso Fiction Review, The Four Quarters Magazine, The Liberal, and others.
Sudeep Sen, International & Poetry Editor
Sudeep Sen’s prize-winning books include: Postmarked India: New & Selected Poems (HarperCollins), Rain, Aria (A. K. Ramanujan Translation Award), Fractals: New & Selected Poems | Translations 1980–2015 (London Magazine Editions), EroText (Vintage: Penguin Random House), Kaifi Azmi: Poems | Nazms (Bloomsbury), and Anthropocene: Climate Change, Contagion, Consolation (Pippa Rann). He has edited influential anthologies, including: The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry, World English Poetry, Modern English Poetry by Younger Indians (Sahitya Akademi), and Converse: Contemporary English Poetry by Indians (Pippa Rann). Blue Nude: Ekphrasis & New Poems (Jorge Zalamea International Poetry Prize) and The Whispering Anklets are forthcoming. Sen’s works have been translated into over twenty-five languages. His writing has appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, Newsweek, The Guardian, Observer, Independent, Telegraph, Financial Times, Herald, Poetry Review, Literary Review, Harvard Review, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Times of India, Indian Express, Outlook, and India Today, and has been broadcast on the BBC, PBS, CNN IBN, NDTV, AIR, and Doordarshan. Sen’s newer work appears in New Writing 15 (Granta), Language for a New Century (Norton), Leela: An Erotic Play of Verse and Art (Collins), Indian Love Poems (Knopf / Random House / Everyman), Out of Bounds (Bloodaxe), Initiate: Oxford New Writing (Blackwell), and Name me a Word (Yale). He is the editorial director of AARK ARTS, editor of Atlas, and currently the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Museo Camera. Sen is the first Asian honored to deliver the Derek Walcott Lecture and read at the Nobel Laureate Festival. The Government of India awarded him a senior fellowship for “outstanding persons in the field of culture/literature.” You can find out more at his website.
James Wood, Humour & Satire Editor
J. W. Wood is the author of five books of poems and a novel, all published in the UK. His first collection of short fiction is forthcoming later this year with AN Editions. His work has appeared in The Poetry Review, London Magazine, TLS, etc., and has been shortlisted or nominated for several awards, including the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry and the Bridport Prize. A dual citizen of the UK and Canada, he is the recipient of awards from the Canada Council for the Arts and the British Columbia Arts Council. You can find out more at his website.
James McGuire, US Editor
James Royce McGuire’s plays have been performed at Circle Rep, The Drama Book Shop, and Cornelia Street Café in New York, among others. His first full-length play, Daddy Kathryn, was originally produced at HERE, filmed for the BBC, and featured in several national papers. It received readings at Ensemble Studio Theatre, a staged reading at The Abingdon Theater Company, and a production at The New York International Fringe Festival. His one-act play The Dating Cyclone was produced by LoveCreek Productions at The John Houseman Theater, and his play A Texas Funeral was performed at The Actors Studio New Play Festival and The Last Frontier Theater Conference. His play The Seventh Chakra was a PlayLab Selection at GPTC. His fiction has been published in HGMLQ, Ellipsis, The Story Shack, The Legendary, Ars Notoria, and his work is archived in the permanent collection of plays in the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Literary readings include the 92Y and KGB. He is an alumnus of the BMI Musical Theater Workshop and a Hawthornden Fellow. He now lives in Palm Springs, CA.
Arun Kapil, Food Editor
Arun Kapil, Food Editor of AN Editions, founded and owns a spice company, Green Saffron Spices. He works sustainably, directly with partner farms mainly in western, northern, and southern India. He oversees the entire chain of custody, eliminating intermediaries to maintain direct oversight from cultivation fields. Arun and his partner Olive began by selling bespoke spice blends with recipes at a farmers’ market stall in Mahon Point, Cork. They now supply spices and seasonings to global blue-chip clients and food processors, and are relaunching their brand with Modern India meal solutions, sauces, blends, naan, condiments, and basmati. Bootstrapping the business from the ground up, he credits their success to jugaard. He considers himself a masaalchi and, at best, a khansama, supported by a network of Irish, Indian, and British agri-experts and businesspeople.
Tina Bexson, Middle East Editor
Tina Bexson lives between Sinai, Cairo, and London, and has done so for many years. She is a freelance researcher and news/features writer for national newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian, London’s Evening Standard, The Times, Ars Notoria, Environmental Health Journal, Environmental Health News, Public Health News, Your Life Magazine, Hotdog Film Magazine, Mental Health Today Magazine, Jack, Maxim, Midweek, and Living Abroad Magazine. Her subject areas include travel photojournalism, health, psychology, war, the military, crime, criminology, prison, psychiatry, social issues, environment, lifestyle, film, and the arts.
Ulises Paniagua is the Latin American Editor
Ulises is a narrator and poet. Author of novels, books and poems. Eternal navigator of impossible seas. Ulises is a Mexican artist known for his work as a storyteller, poet, videographer, and playwright. He has authored several notable works, including the novel “La ira del sapo” (2016) and four collections of short stories: “Patibulario, cuentos al final del túnel” (2011), “Nadie duerme esta noche” (2012), “Historias de la ruina” (2013), and “Bitácora del eterno navegante” (2015). His literary contributions have been featured in various anthologies, magazines, and newspapers both nationally and internationally.
Paniagua’s poetry includes four collections: “Del amor y otras miserias” (2009), “Guardián de las horas” (2012), “Nocturno imperio de los proscritos” (2013), and “Lo tan negro que respira el Universo” (2015). His work has been translated into English and Italian, and he has received numerous accolades for his contributions to literature.
In addition to his literary achievements, Paniagua has been involved in various cultural and educational initiatives, including workshops and collaborations with institutions such as CONACULTA, UAM, and the René Avilés Fabila Foundation. His work often explores themes of identity, memory, and the human condition, making him a significant figure in contemporary Mexican literature.
Margaret Yip, Memoirs & Historical Memory
Margaret Yip is a mother of five, grandmother of seven, and great-grandmother of two. She lives in a small village in Cumbria. She advocates for social and economic justice, social housing, and the NHS, and opposes all forms of prejudice and hatred. She is currently serializing her memoirs with Ars Notoria. To quote Margaret:
‘Prejudice, racism, and hate are once again spiraling out of control, and the church and others are far too silent about it. But there is hope. People like me, following the example of my parents, are speaking out, using new platforms like Ars Notoria to do so. We all have to stand up for humanity and confront prejudice and injustice. My hope for the future is that people always speak out, stand up, and be counted. Say enough is enough and stop prejudice. Defend the NHS, social housing, and the benefits we deserve.’
It is not the words of our enemies we will remember, but the silence of our friends.
See who our contributors are