Jane Czyzselska

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Jane joined DIVA magazine when it launched in 1994. Ten years later, she was appointed Editor. Under her watch, DIVA has exploded in popularity to become the biggest selling lesbian publication in Europe. The likes of Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Angelina Jolie and Scarlett Johansson have graced the cover, making it one of the coolest gay titles on the market. Jane has placed lesbians firmly in the public eye and broken down negative stereotypes, proving that gay women are stylish, cultured, successful and sexy. Jane is also a regular contributor to The Guardian and The Times.

LNL Questionnaire

Your favourite virtue?

Honesty

Your favourite qualities in a man?

Big heartedness

Your favourite qualities in a woman?

Big heartedness

Your main characteristic?

I see saw between love and fear

What draws you most to your friends?

Their kindness

Given the opportunity what would you most like to change?

Prejudice against LGBTs, addicts and fatties and I'd like to help address racism in the queer community

Who would you most like to take out for dinner?

Susie Orbach – not for any funny stuff mind, just so I could quiz her brilliant brain

Your idea of happiness?

Self acceptance

What is your favourite way of spending the day?

With friends and or family in the sun before going to a Grace Jones gig

Whose life other than yours would you most like to have lived?

I’d like to live in the mind of a living and brilliant quantum physicist

Where would you most like to live?

Comfortably in my skin

Who is your favourite author?

Diana Souhami, Stella Duffy, Susie Orbach, Irvin Yalom, Siri Hustved, Adam Phillips

Who is your favourite poet?

Shakespeare for his sonnets, ee cummings, Jackie Kay, Maya Angelou

Your favourite heroes in fiction?

The Cat in the Hat for this exuberant anarchy and the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland for being a total dude.

Your favourite heroines in fiction?

Stella Suffy’s Saz Martin for being fearless and androgynous

Charlotte Bronte’s Elizabeth Bennett for her humorous insight into the nonsense of social mores

Your favourite painters?

Artemesia Gentileschi ( for her passionate response to being raped in Judith Beheading Holofernes), Francis Bacon and Mark Rothko (for the way they depicted their descent into darkness), Maggi Hambling (for the energy and joy of her sea paintings)

Who is your favourite (classical) composer?

Changes all the time but today Smetana because it makes me feel connected to my dad, Mozart because his virtuosity lifts my soul

What is your favourite Film?

Changes all the time – Today its Holiday for its sparkling, funny dialogue and clever anti-capitalist critique and of course Katharine Hepburn; The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser for its brilliant examination of how we become human.

Your favourite food?

Fresh berries and full fat Greek yoghurt

Your favourite drink?

At the moment I’m addicted to Starbucks’ blended iced black coffee with sugar free hazlenut syrup. The shame of it.

Who do you most admire?

My closest friends, mum, dad and brother and people live from a place of love.

What is your present state of mind?

Anxious

For what fault have you most toleration?

Other people’s

Your favourite motto?

May I have two? Love is all you need and put in the action, let go of the outcome