Innholdsfortegnelse for 6/12/2023 i The Big Issue

Why does it take so long for the penny to drop? Three years ago, when we were deep in the Covid crisis, a number of us were saying that the preceding period of austerity had weakened social delivery and harmed the health of many. It had made the NHS almost full of people whose health had been diminished by the cuts that the Cameron/Osborne government had made. It was evidenced everywhere by the social provision that had been allowed to wither on the vine in order to pay for the enormous bailout of the badly behaving banks, who were dripping in risks and their outrageous rewards. But it has taken three years for the committees to form and look seriously at what had been done to the wellbeing of those…

“Is this a hotel or a prison?” Omer says as he describes his life in Home Office accommodation. He came to the UK as an asylum seeker more than three years ago, after a threat to his life meant he had to flee Saudi Arabia and leave his family. He’s been bumped from one temporary accommodation to another ever since. He is far from alone. Asylum seekers like Omer are put in overcrowded rooms while their applications are considered, beds separated by makeshift curtains of cloth on a string, stuck in a monotonous routine “reliving their trauma and worried about the people they’ve left behind”, the Labour MP Helen Hayes says. Food is bland and makes few adjustments for health conditions such as diabetes or other dietary requirements, if any…

BARTER BOOKS Alnwick, Northumberland Barter Books is a unique experience. Housed in a former railway station – the old waiting rooms are now cafe booths and a model train runs around the whole thing – it’s now home to thousands of books, browsable while you enjoy coffee and cakes. barterbooks.co.uk CHORLTON BOOKSHOP Manchester The shop was threatened with closure in 2014 when a bar applied for permission to open next door. Locals rallied around and their campaign persuaded the council to refuse permission. chorltonbookshop.co.uk LIGHTHOUSE Edinburgh This queer-owned and women-led independent community bookshop is unapologetically activist, intersectional, feminist and antiracist. They stock 10,000 horizon-broadening titles for readers of all ages, and in 2020 were named Scotland’s Best Independent Bookshop. lighthousebookshop.com NO ALIBIS Belfast Named for its focus on mystery fiction…

STREET ART Shepherd is a 23-year-old artist primarily working in the medium of collage and painting with influences ranging from Linder Sterling and Jamie Reid to David Lynch. Her work explores many themes and subject matters such as medication, addiction, bipolar disorder, trauma and austerity. She often makes use of bold colours and episodes from her own life. The work on this page is created by people who are marginalised. Contact street.lights@bigissue.com to see your art here. To see more and buy prints: bigissueshop.com. At least half of the profit goes to the artist.…

CULTURE Alma Singer “Everything will be OK.” Below a bright rainbow, a message of hope. Everything Is Going To Be OK is the most purely optimistic of a series of works from rising visual arts star Alma Singer, whose debut solo show A for Effort opens this week in Cambridge. “The past few years have been quite turbulent. Obviously, we went through a lockdown, which no one had experienced before. And now, we’re going into this kind of weird recession. It’s just been quite difficult for a lot of people,” says Carla Nizzola, the gallery owner behind the Alma Singer alter-ego. “I wanted to create something that was really hopeful. Even though times can be tough, it’s not always going to be like that, and there is a light at…

At 16 I was still being called Sonny, because people thought I was a boy. I lived in a tracksuit because I was a sprinter and I had cropped short hair. My nickname at school was Muscle Man. It was awful, I didn’t enjoy that nickname. I was passionately engaged in piano playing and music, but I was a 100m sprinter and that was my focus. I’d been spotted by a sprint coach at the age of eight. I just missed qualifying for the Munich Olympics when I was 16 and I was preparing for Montreal in 1976. Like most teenagers, I thought I was indestructible. A call came through out of the blue from Reading Ladies FC [then Reading Royals LFC] wanting me to stand in for their striker,…

1. BORDERS BOOK FESTIVAL 15-18 June Melrose, Scottish Borders The 20th edition of the Borders Book Festival boasts talks from Shuggie Bain Booker winner Douglas Stuart, tennis legend Judy Murray and a sprinkling of Great British Bake Off winners alongside a strong focus on books about mental health and neurodivergence. bordersbookfestival.org 2. BRADFORD LITERATURE FESTIVAL 23 June-2 July Bradford, West Yorkshire Yorkshire’s biggest literary event offers talks from famous names (Irvine Welsh, Sadiq Khan) alongside intriguing mini-fests, like B-Disruptive, a current affairs discussion day for young people. bradfordlitfest.co.uk 3. BARNES CHILDREN’S LITERATURE FESTIVAL 24-25 June Barnes, South London This vibrant weekend gives kids the chance to tell a joke with Lenny Henry, learn about the climate with Lucy Hawking, and join a live drawing session with former Children’s Laureate Chris…

PREVIEWS The hottest summer fiction – you heard it here first As summer brings the promise of sunshine and long days, there’s an intimidating mountain of new books to choose from to fill our holiday time. Never fear – our books editor has selflessly sat in a darkened room going through them so you don’t have to. Here’s a goldplated collection of Big Issue favourites and sparkling debuts (so your future selves can say you read the new literary superstars first) After the Funeral by Tessa Hadley Out on 13 July (Jonathan Cape, £18.99) This collection of short stories from the consistent Hadley is as good as any of its imaginative, insightful predecessors. Hadley has mastered the art of illuminating those brief, commonplace domestic moments which pass without fanfare but…

In a couple of weeks I’ll celebrate eight years of being clean and sober. It’s been a good run, hopefully one that will continue for many, many more years until the day I die. Giving up drink and drugs felt like a big sacrifice at first but, quite quickly, I realised it was the opposite. Sobriety introduced a bunch of brilliant new stuff. Energy, curiosity, fitness, focus, a reinvigorated imagination, a deeper appreciation of the love and beauty that surrounds us and – perhaps best of all – deep, peaceful, sumptuous rest. Being pissed, high or hungover all the time created a chaotic and stressful life. I was always running late, feeling sick, embarrassed, anxious, paranoid and unable to relax or feel fulfilled without some sort of stimulant inside of…

The latest attempt to see if a universal basic income can work comes in a trial launched in Jarrow, in the north-east of England, and in East Finchley, in North London. Thirty people between those two locations will each receive £1,600 a month for two years. They’ll be assessed to see whether their financial wellbeing improves, and also their mental health. The idea of a universal basic income is not new. Going back to Thomas More and accelerating through Bertrand Russell, LBJ and some challenging contemporary characters like Elon Musk, the idea of a base level of income for all has gathered curious support on the left and right of politics. As a means of trying to properly change the system and eradicate poverty, it remains a fascinating prospect. But…

It’s six years since the Grenfell disaster shocked Britain and uncovered a raft of issues built into homes across the country. The fallout has continued ever since. Survivors and bereaved families will have to wait until next year for the final conclusions of the inquiry into the fire which killed 72 people. Meanwhile, some people are protected from the huge costs of removing flammable cladding while others still face huge bills to make their homes safe. It was only in September last year that the residents of Brocklehurst Court in Macclesfield, Cheshire, found that they had been caught up in the cladding crisis. When Jones Associates, the managing agent of the property, went to renew its insurance on the building, they saw premiums shoot up from £2,768 to £24,450 a…

SUMMER READS Special Ever since the first out-of-town supermarkets opened, the high street has faced complex and increasing challenges. In recent years, retail parks and online shopping have piled on the pressure. For many shops, the pandemic was the final nail in the coffin. As people work from home and the cost of living remains high, many towns and cities are seeing decreases in footfall compared with pre-Covid times. And yet, independent bookshops are enjoying a renaissance at the heart of their communities. In January this year, the Booksellers Association – which represents independent, chain and non-traditional booksellers across the UK and Ireland – announced the number of independent bookshops had reached its highest point in 10 years. At the end of 2022, they had 1,072 independent members, up from…

Literature and arts festivals often cater predominantly to white, middle-class audiences in terms of content and ticket prices. This issue promotes an environment of exclusion where the mental wellbeing, inspiration and overall benefits of arts and culture become accessible only to the privileged few. At Bradford Literature Festival, we’re committed to breaking down these barriers. We have instituted an extensive ethical ticketing policy that provides free tickets to those who may otherwise be unable to attend. This includes individuals with disabilities, carers, students over 16, senior citizens, benefit recipients, adults living in social housing, refugees and asylum seekers, teachers and educators. If other literature festivals adopt similar measures, we could initiate a transformative ripple effect across the sector, increasing access to culture, books, and art at large. However, enhancing access…

INDIE LEGENDS The third and nicest slab of Pavement At the nexus point of indie-rock and equestrian sport, Bob Nastanovich stands alone. On one side of his life, he’s the affable percussionist, shouter-in-chief and all-round good vibes guru in Pavement, one of the most beloved and acclaimed if also most dysfunctional American guitar bands of the ’90s. On the other side, to mixed degrees of financial success, Nastanovich has since his youth been immersed in the world of thoroughbred horse racing, whether as a horse owner and breeder, manager, jockey agent, correspondent, pundit or, currently, data analyst. To date, he remains the only known American to have attended horse-racing fixtures at all 60 British racecourses. Ask Nastanovich what a lifetime in rock’n’roll has taught him about horse racing and vice…

It is different every day on my pitch, never the same. Sometimes it is quiet, sometimes it is busy. Saturday is the busiest day for me because it’s market day. There are lots of people and I’m here in the middle of it speaking to everyone. Some people are stopping, some people are saying no. I prefer it when it is busy. Market day is the best day to be here. I’ve been selling the magazine in Richmond for five years and I have got a lot of regular customers who come to see me. I sell about 100 magazines here every week. I am well-liked here and I like the people, I have lots of friends and they know me as ‘Argentina’. I like the history in Richmond –…