Professional editor, writer and subeditor with 20 years’ experience in publishing
I studied performing arts and started my career in the theatre, before moving into journalism as a subeditor and writer. My work was mainly in lifestyle magazines and newspaper supplements, including Livingetc, ES Magazine, the Sunday Times Style, Culture and Travel, and the FT’s How To Spend It.
As an editor I have worked on subjects as diverse as fashion, politics, antiques, art, travel, gardening, health, music, cars, watches and restaurants, for companies including the Financial Times, The Express, Evening Standard, Condé Nast, Time Inc and the NHS. I have proof-read undergraduate dissertations and helped college leavers to shape their CV.
Recently I have been working for The Art Newspaper and Private Eye as a subeditor, and as proofreader for JAP, the Journal of Analytical Psychologists – switching hats from art to satire to analysis.
As a copywriter I have created marketing content for the jazz singer Gabrielle Ducomble, Pizza Express Live and the 2023 Dulwich Festival. I’ve also written ballet and music reviews for the Financial Times.
Last year I transcribed a cache of late-Victorian letters written by the prominent industrialist, ship-builder and West Ham FC founder Arnold F Hills, as part of a history project by his great-grandson, Nick Hills. Deciphering the spidery copperplate handwriting gave me a deep insight into Arnold’s emotions, beliefs, philosophy and often catastrophic business dealings in that turbulent era.
I worked for two very happy Christmases as a bookseller at Waterstones in central London, and the most recent festive season at Village Books in Dulwich, a wonderful independent bookshop where they will order any book for you. One of my favourite reads while working there was Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead.
In my spare time I enjoy reading, live theatre and jazz, swimming in the sea and learning languages. In 2022 I travelled to Georgia to practise my basic-level Russian, and found it a fascinating country that certainly broadened my perspective on world events. In 2023 I visited Berlin – a city of contrasts, where the contemporary way of life mingles with a deep history of power, culture, destruction and renewal. This year I would love to visit Iceland or Norway, somewhere very cold where I can fulfil my ambition to see the Northern Lights, or at the least, a brilliant starry sky.