New editor has parish’s mag down to a fine art
Nov 25 2009 by David Whetstone, The Journal
When Jamie Warde-Aldam took over the parish magazine, few people can have imagined what they were going to get. David Whetstone meets an editor with a mission to entertain.
“The thing about advertising is that you have to be pretty unambiguous. You are looking for a very specific, very clear meaning.
“But with a good piece of poetry or work of art, it’s open-ended. Art and poetry leave you room to think around them and about them. They’re better for you.”
In 1996, he saw the paintings of Northumbrian artist James Hugonin for the first time, and stood in front of Antony Gormley’s Field for the British Isles in Gateshead, marvelling at the huge crowd of clay figures.
He met Jon Bewley, director of Newcastle art producers Locus+, who asked him if he could use the Healey Estate for half of an art performance called An Indian Shooting the Indian Act by Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. The other half took place at the National Rifle Association Range at Bisley, Surrey.
Jamie is now on the board of Locus+ and the empty cartridge from that 1997 performance is framed in a downstairs loo, along with a poster for an exhibition by Cornelia Hesse-Honegger.
The Hotspur, with an example of each issue filed carefully in a plastic sleeve, is clearly a labour of love.
But what do local parishioners make of this parish magazine which doesn’t look like any other parish magazine you’ve ever seen?
“I think they like it,” says Jamie, “although there are probably some who use it for kitty litter or to light fires.”
Whereas people in the parish get The Hotspur free, outsiders pay £25 for the four issues a year, which helps to keep the enterprise afloat.
The new book was conceived with the same idea. As Jamie states at the back: “With its tiny circulation, the magazine needs all the help it can get.”
The little yellow book is called Lady Baby Gypsy Queen Elephant Monkey Tangerine. Jamie says this is what his sister used to say when counting plum stones and having exhausted Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor.
The book is an anthology of short stories by contributors to The Hotspur – and some by newcomers.
As Jamie says in his introduction: “They have no unifying style and represent no particular attitude to writing. All they have in common is that they come from funny, talented, generous people who write fiction for their own amusement, not for a living.”
Amateur storytellers, he adds, can give just as much pleasure as “the usual suspects we’re encouraged to spend our money on”.
One of Jamie’s own stories, Dazzled, tells of the tragic consequences of exposure to a piece of dazzle camouflage – invented during the First World War to confound U-Boat commanders.
Roadkill Barbecue, by 18-year-old Karl McManus, from Hexham, tells of an attempt to emulate survival expert Ray Mears.
They are a mixed bag – dark, funny, lovingly crafted and readable. The book – title too long to repeat – costs £9.99 and can be found in book shops in Corbridge and Hexham, and via thehotspur@googlemail.com
