The Isis Magazine

This article is about the student publication at the University of Oxford. For the history of science journal published in Chicago, seeIsis(journal).For the propaganda magazine published by ISIS, seeDabiq(magazine).

TheIsisis a student publication at theUniversity of Oxford,where the magazine was established in 1892. Traditionally a rival to the student newspaperCherwell,Isiswas finally acquired by the latter's publishing house,Oxford Student Publications Limited,in the late 1990s. It now operates as a termly magazine and website, providing an outlet for features journalism, although for most of its life it appeared weekly. The two publications are named after the two rivers in Oxford, "Isis" being the local name for the River Thames.

The Isis

Cover of the Hilary 2020 issue ofThe Isis
Type	Termlymagazineat theUniversity of Oxford
Owner(s)	Oxford Student Publications Limited
Editor	Helen Edwards and Clara Hartley
Founded	1892
Language	English
Headquarters	Folly Bridge,Oxford
Circulation	c. 4,500
Website	isismagazine.org.uk

History

TheIsiswas founded byMostyn Turtle Piggott,the first of the student editors, on 27 April 1892.In his first editorial he wrote:

"We have no politics and fewer principles, and should we last until theGeneral Electionwe shall use our influence for neither side. We shall endeavour to be humorous without being ill-humoured, critical without being captious, militant without being malevolent, independent without being impertinent, and funny (as MrAlbert Chevaliersays) without being vulgar. "

In its early days, theIsiswas owned and published by theHolywell Press.Students were given complete independence, as long as the paper they produced was profitable and within good taste. Oxford welcomed the addition to its scene wholeheartedly, and was more than prepared to pay the weekly sixpence. TheIsiswas an accurate recorder of proceedings in theOxford Union- enough of a function to maintain sales. The same price (2.5p in modern money) lasted into the 1960s.

One of the features of the magazine that survives today is the "Icons" section (then known as "Idols" ). In the 1890s, being President ofOUDS(the Oxford University Dramatic Society) seemed to guarantee an appearance in print. Some of the Idols featured pre-1939 wereLord David CecilandT. E. Lawrence;it was not until 1935 that the editors judged a woman worthy of being featured as an Idol – Lady Katharine Cairnsbeing the first.

After the beginning ofWorld War I,theIsisceased publication for four years, until it was resurrected in 1919 byBeverley Nichols,who produced the opening issue entirely by himself:

"the great fact remains thatOxfordis still here, a little dazed and unsteady perhaps, but Oxford all the same, and it is to sing of Oxford thatThe Isisappears once more, to reflect its every tendency, to echo its laughter and – well, to do the other thing. "

Evelyn Waughcontributed to the magazine regularly. Waugh was also the first to participate in the rivalry betweenThe Isisand the freshly establishedCherwellby writing for both. TheIsiswas disparagingly referred to in theCherwellas "The Was-Was".

The 1930s were times of much political turmoil inEurope,yet serene in theIsis- but then, so were they in the rest of the British press. A couple of articles more flippant than political in tone resulted in theIsisbeing banned inGermanyin 1935. Only a year later, the magazine had again to suspend its operations until 1945, to re-emerge with new strength.

TheH-bombwas a significant topic for debate in 1958, and the magazine published a whole issue on the subject consisting of unsigned articles. Two of the undergraduate contributors, William Miller and Paul Thompson, were both ex-national service,and wrote aboutBritishIntelligenceoperations on the borders of the Soviet Union.The two men were prosecuted under section 2 of theOfficial Secrets Act 1911,and sentenced to three months imprisonment. As result, the proprietors at Holywell Press saw the need to step in, with the objection that the staff was now "definitely left-wing and will almost inevitably remain so."

The definite article dropped from its title, in the 1960s theIsisturned its guns on Oxford. In Michaelmas Term 1961 under EditorPaul Foot,the magazine began publishing reviews of university lectures. Of themselves the reviews attracted little interest outside the university. However, the decision of the university's Proctors to ban them triggered a national outcry. Three years later, under editor Chris Meakin,Isishad a second attempt. This time it succeeded and theProctors,despite a fierce intellectual battle with the Editor using their Proctorial Summonses, at length found it simpler to back down under the spotlight of national newspaper interest. The debate revolved around the disagreement: who was doing more to "bring the name of the university into disrepute"? > > the reviews by exposing in public the worth of university lecturers > > or the Proctors by banning the reviews? Isis won. The Reviews then lasted for several terms until less-connected editors lost interest. Exceptionally the Editor also undertook the role of leadOxford Unioncritic himself, as noted above a position of considerable influence around Oxford University from the magazine's earliest days.

For theIsis Idolin his term, Meakin prophetically chose the (much later) novelistJeffrey Archer,who showed no literary flair whatever at Oxford and never wrote for theIsis.The magazine did not only criticise Oxford. One issue during that same term was mainly devoted to an on-the-spot examination of acontroversial parliamentary electionin theBirmingham-areaconstituency of Smethwick,where the widely criticised Conservative candidatePeter Griffithswas considered to have fought aracistcampaign. To produce that particular issue,Isistook a coachload of undergraduate journalists to Birmingham for the day. The result was an edition of the magazine which was widely admired and which Paul Foot hailed as "one of the best thingsIsishas ever done. "Following his editorship, Meakin produced a weekly satirical column" The Fifth Column ", a title that has been borrowed numerous times since; it then took him about fifty years to produce his first novelThe Chinese Oceanpublished in June 2015. It was probably a record delay for editors of the magazine; he followed this in 2017 with his non-fiction "The Origin of Economies."

Meantime the first of several attempted rescues came from businessman,Robert Maxwell,and hisPergamon Presson Headington Hill, Oxford. In a risky business move, a national student publication was created -Isis National,which began distribution in Spring 1964, without success. He departed in 1970, making theIsisan entirely independent and student-run company. The "University" tag was scrapped, and theIsiswas also distributed at the Oxford Polytechnic in Headington (nowOxford Brookes University). Quite soon, the absence of solid financial backing caused the frequency of publication to be cut by half,and theIsisbegan to appear fortnightly. The following decades were interspersed with financial crises, the worst of which was a £1,000 printing bill in 1972 - and no cash to cover it with.Again, a rescue squad appeared from an unlikely, but illustrious source, in the form of this telegram:

"Read of your financial troubles in The Times STOP One thousand pounds will be en route as soon as you cable us name and address of printers at the Granotel Rome -Elizabeth TaylorandRichard Burton"

In 1998, after a series of growing financial crises, "Isis Publications Ltd" was created. Today theIsisis a termly magazine owned and published byOxford Student Publications Ltdand is an anthology of poetry, investigations and art. TheIsisalso runs events for students in Oxford.

Alumni

TheIsishas been the springboard for careers in literature, the theatre and television, with specific influences inPrivate EyeandWestminsterpolitics.Isisalumni includeHilaire Belloc,Evelyn Waugh,Harold Acton,Graham Greene,John Betjeman,Michael Foot,Jo Grimond,Sylvia Plath,Sue Lloyd-Roberts,playwrightDennis Potter,Adrian Mitchell,Charles Graves,Robert Robinson(the BBC broadcaster),Richard Ingrams(former editor ofPrivate Eye),David Dimbleby(BBCQuestion Time), Paul Foot (former deputy editor ofPrivate Eye),Ian Bradley(BBC and The Times),Alastair Macdonald(deputyPermanent Secretaryat theDepartment for Trade and Industry),Derek Parfit(All Souls philosopher),Christopher Meakin(journalist, economist, banker},Peter Gillman,Mary Kaldor(Professor at LSE),Sally Laird(writer, translator and editor),Gyles Brandreth(MP and entertainer) andTerry Jones(actor). Then in the "only four issues a term" era:George Osborne,Nigella Lawson,Jo JohnsonandBen Goldacre.

Editors-in-Chief 2000-Present

Year	Michaelmas	Hilary	Trinity
2000-2001	Benjamin Secher Gowan Tervo	Jude Bunting	Ben Hewitt Nell Freeman
2001-2002	Melissa Bradshaw Leander Deeney	Adrian Cornell du Houx	Phil Oltermann Ally Carnwath
2002-2003	Sean Gray Emma Farge	Mel Bradshaw Rodrigo Davies	N/A
2003-2004	N/A	Oliver Brown	Julia Buckley
2004-2005	Tess Andrews Torsten Henricson-Bell	Laura-Jane Foley Alice Jones	Mike Wakeman Noor Kadhim
2005-2006	Tom Pursey	Christopher Schuller	Georgina Warren
2006-2007	Alec Garton Ash	Ruth Lewy	Solvej Krause
2007-2008	Pippa Lamb	Adam White	Martyn Evans Lindsey Ford
2008-2009	Oskar Cox Jensen	James Kennard Maximilian Krahé	Jo Livingstone Rebecca Davis
2009-2010	Nick Coxon Jack Orlik	Ben Glazer Jack Marley-Payne	Tom Lazenby
2010-2011	Memphis Barker Joseph Charlton	Izzie Fraser Jim Waterson	Alex Dymoke Alex Macpherson
2011-2012	Jane Saldanha	Alex Hacillo	Douglas Sloan Sean Ayer
2012-2013	Rosie Ball Tom Gardner	Polina Ivanova William Granger	Philip Bell Rebecca Chong Wilkins
2013-2014	Violet Brand Daisy Fletcher	Aaron Payne Charlotte Sykes	Matt Broomfield Peter Endicott
2014-2015	Sadie Levy Gale Olivia Yallop	Raphael Hogarth Daniella Shreir	Huw Spencer Miranda Hall
2015-2016	Thea Slotover James Waddell	Alexander Hartley Ione Wells	Christian Hill Fintan Calpin
2016-2017	Eleanor Biggs Jacob Lee	Rosie Coleman Collier Samuel Dunnett	TJ Jordan Lily Begg
2017-2018	Flo Ward Lael Hines	Joe Higton Durrant Tobi Thomas	Emily Lawford Jiaqi Kang
2018-2019	Katie Meynell Lev Crofts	Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf Leela Jadhav	Antonio Perricone Leo Gadaski
2019-2020	Léa Gayer de Mena Zahra Munir	Annabelle Fuller Neil Natarajan	Chung Kiu Kwok Ivana Cholakova
2020-2021	Alexander Haveron-Jones Barnaby Pite	Mukahang Limbu Rita Kimijima-Dennemeyer	Nat Cheung Kalli Dockrill
2021-2022	Anya Li Taira Natalie Perman	Joseph Dobbyn Grace Lawrence	Ananya Basu Kiana Rezakhanlou
2022-2023	Susie Castledine Dowon Jung	Shao Yi Wong Mia Wu	Clemmie Read Antara Singh
2023-2024	Isaaq Tomkins Zoe Davies	Flavius Covaci Caitlin Morgan	Helen Edwards Clara Hartley

Sources

• The Isiswebsite
• Billen, Andrew and Skipworth, Mark.Oxford Type.Robson Books, 1984.

External links

• The Isiswebsite
• Oxford Student Publications Ltd