GUY MANKOWSKI

I was really intrigued and provoked by this insightful article in The Guardian which I think only began to take the lid off the reality of life for authors in 2024.  I think a huge amount of millennial disenchantment comes down to us having been indoctrinated with baby boomer ideas of what we should expect from our job and our income in terms of the wealth, housing and lifestyle we can expect.  This is an outdated mindset frankly that was not often promoted but also surprisingly stubbornly defended by (particularly right leaning) members of the baby boomer generation. This article made me think how this issue extends to what people expect of novelists- and by extension what novelists expect of themselves. In many ways I have got to do events with- and interview heroes of mine- in a way I never could have expected. The touching feeling of someone writing or telling you of the impact your work has had on you is still incredible, as is the feeling when a box of your books arrives in the

 I was honoured to host this event for Lincoln Book Festival. Jane Savidge- as cofounder of the publicists Savidge and Best was behind much of the genesis of the Britpop movement and stewarded the successful public image (after years of obscurity) of Pulp, Suede and other key Britpop bands that reshaped our musical landscape and mindset. I recall as a teenager on the Isle of Wight reading the 'What's Eating Jarvis Cocker? Heroin? Porn?' headline of Select Magazine in my local newsagents, never dreaming I'd get to talk to the person who came up with that whole angle.  Audrey Golden talked about the research process behind bringing to light the painfully overlooked story of the women of Factory Records. Despite this being the night The Last Dinner Party were (not) playing in Lincoln we had a crowd of discerning musical types who asked great questions.  Many others made this event a beautiful occasion. My partner Rachel put together an incredible Pulp / Factory playlist th