Becoming editor of the 'Freethinker'
Some news
Last Monday, on April Fool’s Day (and perhaps that is appropriate), I was promoted from assistant editor of the Freethinker to editor. Below, I reproduce my ‘Letter from the Editor’, published last week, and my introductory email to the Freethinker’s subscribers. Let me just add here that you would be doing me a mighty favour by subscribing to our newsletter (or even donating) and that you may feel free to send me pitches/submissions via our contact form. Please do also follow the Freethinker on Twitter/X.
In Salman Rushdie’s 2012 memoir Joseph Anton, largely an account of the years he spent in hiding after the Ayatollah Khomeini sentenced him to death for writing a beautiful and thoughtful work of fiction, Rushdie refers to an interview with one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers:
‘The flame of the Enlightenment is waning,’ a journalist said to Günter Grass. ‘But,’ he replied, ‘there is no other source of light.’
I am proud and humbled to take up the mantle of Freethinker editor; this magazine has a long and noble history of guarding our only source of light. Emma Park, my predecessor, relaunched the Freethinker in 2022 and it has risen to new heights under her editorship. The flame of the Enlightenment burns a little brighter for her astounding efforts. Her tenure will be a hard one to follow, but I shall do my best.
Not much will change as I endeavour to live up to Emma. Perhaps, in time, there will be some expansion and some new features. But the ethos of the Freethinker remains what it always has been: to champion freethought in a world that seriously needs it. Emma’s own editorial letter from March 2022 can be found below [on the webpage] since its expression of this ethos can hardly be bettered. (And Emma’s delightful Porcus Sapiens logo is here to stay.)
Pitches and submissions are welcome; please see the Contact/Submissions page for more details. I want to keep up the tradition of the Freethinker as a space where different perspectives can be aired and arguments can be had, so if you disagree with any article and think you can write a quality rejoinder, feel free to submit. We have no party line.
This seems an appropriate moment to ask for your support. The Freethinker needs readers to back us so that we can continue long into the future. Please see the Donate/Support page to find out how you can help to keep us thriving.
Before I sign off, a line from Rushdie’s beautiful and thoughtful work of fiction, The Satanic Verses, recurs to me. In that book, a character named Baal says that ‘A poet’s work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep.’ This, I feel, nicely captures the spirit that has motivated the many writers who have contributed to the Freethinker since 1881. Long may that spirit continue to inspire and provoke.
Daniel James Sharp
Editor
1 April 2024
As the new editor of the Freethinker, I thought I should briefly introduce myself. I have worked with the redoubtable Emma Park as her assistant editor since last year and I am proud and humbled to be taking over from her. She has raised the Freethinker to new heights, and I can only hope to live up to her standards. I have written a new editorial letter, which you can read here [or above], by way of a fuller introduction.
Allow me to simply say here: thank you for reading the Freethinker. I hope you will enjoy our forthcoming content. Here is an exclusive sneak peek: tomorrow, Khadija Khan will report from the frontlines of a Ramadan protest and on Friday, an anonymous writer will tell his story of surviving Ramadan in Pakistan as an ex-Muslim [these pieces are now published; see here and here. Plus, a couple of extra pieces: one by Jack Rivington on the Batley school teacher case and one from Kunwar Khuldune Shahid on Richard Dawkins and cultural Christianity]. Next week [tomorrow], my interview with the musician Frank Turner will be published and Kevin Yuill will [this Friday] provide a provocative piece arguing against assisted dying from a humanist perspective. Do keep an eye out.Â
Meanwhile, allow me also to express my gratitude to Emma and the boards of G. W. Foote & Co. and Secular Society Ltd, the companies which publish and support the Freethinker, respectively. I shall do my best to repay their confidence in me as I move forward.
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Gratefully,
Daniel James Sharp
Editor, The Freethinker
freethinker.co.uk
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editor@freethinker.co.uk
