Mark Fisher
Mark Fisher is an Edinburgh-based journalist. He is an author and editor, and Theatre Critic for Scotland at The Guardian.
Moving to Edinburgh
Wirral-born Mark came to Edinburgh as a recent drama graduate in 1986, enticed by the city's theatre opportunities.
'I came to Edinburgh to work in the Fringe office. The second year I was here, in 1987, I just decided Edinburgh was a lovely place to be. I got on with people here, I decided to stay in Edinburgh, but not really with very much sense of what I was going to do.'
Renting a room from Robin Hodge, then-publisher of The List
'Robin got on with me, liked me and knew I had an interest in the arts and had done some writing before', explains Mark.
'He said, I'm looking for someone on the production side of The List Magazine, why don't you come and work with us? So I continued living in his flat and also working as his employee, initially on the production side. Alongside this I was going to the theatre regularly. This was noticed by Sarah Hemming, who was the theatre editor at the time, she now writes for The Financial Times. She encouraged me to start writing for the magazine.'
'It sounds terribly jammy when I describe it like that', Mark laugh apologetically, 'Particularly to someone like you, asking how do you get into journalism, here's me saying you should rent a flat from someone who runs a magazine!'
Moving up the ranks at The List to become Theatre Editor
'I guess I learnt on the job', he says, 'The List was a fortnightly publication at that stage and it still had a bit of the feeling of a post-student magazine. It was very open to young people starting up, learning on the job as I did. It was a fantastic opportunity, it's a bit like writing for student publications. You're taken as seriously as if you were the arts editor of The Scotsman or something quite grand and yet you may only be 21, 22.'
Working as Scotland's Theatre Critic for The Guardian and other roles
'I typically produce on review a week or so,' says Mark, 'I also have a mixture of features I might write for The Scotsman or other publications. I also do a lot of theatre programme notes for a company that specialises in producing programmes for theatre companies up and down the country.'
Writing about theatre in Edinburgh
'Writing about theatre in Edinburgh is so interesting because it often happens in small places in rooms of 200 people, 300 people. There's something about that which makes the performance connect with a culture in a way more mass market forms of entertainment don't.'
Moving to Edinburgh
Wirral-born Mark came to Edinburgh as a recent drama graduate in 1986, enticed by the city's theatre opportunities.
'I came to Edinburgh to work in the Fringe office. The second year I was here, in 1987, I just decided Edinburgh was a lovely place to be. I got on with people here, I decided to stay in Edinburgh, but not really with very much sense of what I was going to do.'
Renting a room from Robin Hodge, then-publisher of The List
'Robin got on with me, liked me and knew I had an interest in the arts and had done some writing before', explains Mark.
'He said, I'm looking for someone on the production side of The List Magazine, why don't you come and work with us? So I continued living in his flat and also working as his employee, initially on the production side. Alongside this I was going to the theatre regularly. This was noticed by Sarah Hemming, who was the theatre editor at the time, she now writes for The Financial Times. She encouraged me to start writing for the magazine.'
'It sounds terribly jammy when I describe it like that', Mark laugh apologetically, 'Particularly to someone like you, asking how do you get into journalism, here's me saying you should rent a flat from someone who runs a magazine!'
Moving up the ranks at The List to become Theatre Editor
'I guess I learnt on the job', he says, 'The List was a fortnightly publication at that stage and it still had a bit of the feeling of a post-student magazine. It was very open to young people starting up, learning on the job as I did. It was a fantastic opportunity, it's a bit like writing for student publications. You're taken as seriously as if you were the arts editor of The Scotsman or something quite grand and yet you may only be 21, 22.'
Working as Scotland's Theatre Critic for The Guardian and other roles
'I typically produce on review a week or so,' says Mark, 'I also have a mixture of features I might write for The Scotsman or other publications. I also do a lot of theatre programme notes for a company that specialises in producing programmes for theatre companies up and down the country.'
Writing about theatre in Edinburgh
'Writing about theatre in Edinburgh is so interesting because it often happens in small places in rooms of 200 people, 300 people. There's something about that which makes the performance connect with a culture in a way more mass market forms of entertainment don't.'