Jason Cowley BA English and Philosophy

Editor of New Statesman

Hi, I'm Jason Cowley and I studied BA English and Philosophy within Humanities at the University of Southampton.

Studying English and Philosophy was a rewarding experience....You are taught to argue and reason rationally....You never quite forget what you read and what you thought back then, when you were at university.

After New Statesman editor Jason Cowley graduated from Southampton with first class honours degree in the hot summer of 1989, he headed out to eastern Europe to observe the fall of communism for himself. He tells how he was hauled off a train at the Czech border and sent back to Vienna. The experience doubtless encouraged him in his ambitions to become a journalist and writer. He started his career as a writer on The Times before editing Granta magazine and the award-winning Observer Sports Monthly before moving to the New Statesman in 2008.

Jason enjoyed his time at the University of Southampton and remembers playing sport as well as studying his texts. He found studying for his degree a rewarding experience.Philosophy particularly rewarding: "You are taught to argue and reason rationally. In Philosophy you’re reading works by some of the greatest minds of all time, you’re grappling with fundamental questions and you carry that with you for the rest of your life. You never quite forget what you read and what you thought about back then, when you were at university.”

Jason is the author of a novel, Unknown Pleasures; his second book is a memoir called The Last Game: Love, Death and Football.

In 2009 and 2011 he was voted editor of the year, current affairs and newspaper magazines, in the British Society of Magazine Editors' awards. He has also been shortlisted for the most coveted award in the magazine industry, as Editor of the Year (consumer magazines) in the 2012 PPA (Professional Publishers Association) Awards.

Listen to an interview with Jason on the download to the right of this page.