Supplement sees guest editor this weekend

Joe Lycett has been announced as the guest editor for Sunday’s Observer New Review supplement. Joe will offer readers his perspective on the city of Birmingham, including features on politics, culture, comedy and gardening, added the publisher.

The front cover features an original painting by Joe depicting a bull, a nod to the city’s famous Birmingham Bullring, the publisher continued, with the words ‘reduced to clear’ making reference to the council’s approval of the biggest budget cuts in local authority history.

This Sunday, Observer New Review outlined features include:

• Joe Lycett interviewing musician Robbie Williams about his first solo art exhibition, Pride and Self-Prejudice, currently in Amsterdam;
• an insider's guide to Birmingham from food and drink recommendations to stage, music and visual arts;
• an essay from journalist and cultural critic Nathalie Olah who reflects on the state of Birmingham since the council’s city-wide cuts were announced last month;
• Q&A with comedian Munya Chawawa and Katherine Ryan sharing her cultural highlights;
• plus, a green-fingered feature about the people and stories at Dads Lane Allotment in Moseley, celebrating the fact that Birmingham has the largest provision of allotments of any Local Authority in the UK.

Joe Lycett says: “When I was asked to be the guest editor for this edition of the New Review I was astonished. ‘What is that?’ I said to my PR manager whilst pouring Black Tower Pinot Noir into empty Châteauneuf-du-Pape bottles. But then after my high-intensity prescription antihistamines kicked in, I agreed. My issue is all about my home town of Birmingham including an exclusive cover painted by me. Don’t worry, things will be back to normal next week.”

Jane Ferguson, editor, the Observer New Review, says: “It’s been a real thrill to welcome Joe Lycett as guest editor of the Observer New Review. We hope that his infectious love of Birmingham, playful wit and fierce support of the arts in its many forms will be a treat for readers this Sunday. It’s an unmissable edition that is distinctly Joe!”

Previous guest editors of the Observer New Review include Jarvis Cocker, Edgar Wright, Steve McQueen and Kae Tempest.

Joe Lycett’s television work has won him a BAFTA, two Royal Television Society awards, plus Rose D’or and Grierson nominations. He has been performing stand-up comedy since 2007 and his work as an artist has been featured in the Royal Academy, Manchester Art Gallery, IKON, Birmingham Midlands Arts Centre and Wolverhampton Art Gallery. Late Night Lycett returns tonight (Friday 12 April) at 10pm on Channel 4.

The Observer New Review, part of the Observer newspaper in the UK, is published every Sunday and available to read online. It has a broad range covering everything from arts, books, politics and technology. The section has received a British Society of Magazine Editors Award and was twice-named supplement of the year runner-up at the British Press Awards.