Arts and culture journalism

Arts and culture journalism is where I started out, writing about music and film. While working as editor-in-chief of a successful LGBT web magazine, this became my bread-and-butter work: everything from interviews with celebrities and publishers, to film and theatre reviews. Arts and culture go hand-in-hand with my travel journalism: I’m always on the lookout for ways to keep my mind busy while I’m visiting far-flung cities or mountains, so you’re as likely to find me in a museum or with my head buried in a new book, as climbing a mountain or fording a river. Over the last ten years I’ve written arts and culture journalism for Attitude magazine, Pride Life, Exeunt and other titles on subjects as diverse as sports, film and theatre – you can see a selection below:

• Exeunt
  • Juliet Gilkes Romero interview – I interviewed the Writers’ Guild Award-winning playwright about race, Parliament and Thatcherism.
  • Nadia Fall interview – The director of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced spoke to me about terrorism and keeping her cast motivated.
  • Janice Okoh – I spoke to the award-winning playwright about working across TV, radio and theatre, and dealing with average reviews.
  • Brimstone and Treacle – My review of the Arcola’s staging of Dennis Potter’s horrifying morality tale.
  • And in the End – an honest review of a flawed play about John Lennon.
  • Dead Party Animals – Review of an intense monologue with an unsettling Lynchian surrealism.
• Attitude
  • The Olympic Games – in June 2012 I wrote about the Games’ lack of impact on LGBT equality, as the UK prepared for London 2012.
• HuffPost
  • Football homophobia – I wrote about football’s problem with homophobia following a spate of incidents in 2011-12.
• Pride Life
  • The Stonewall Uprising, 50 years on – In 2019 Pride Life commissioned me to write about the Stonewall Uprising, the founding moment of the modern LGBT+ equality movement.
  • Queer films – A look at some of the most important LGBT+ films over the last century.
  • Rock Hudson – I explored the screen legend’s career and life, including his tragic early death due to Aids complications.
• SoSoGay
  • Iain Dale interview – I interviewed the radio host and publisher about his Conservative activism and career.
  • Charlie Condou interview – the Coronation Street star spoke to me about childcare and celebrity.