Only my second day on the job and I'm already getting ready for the annual Faber and Faber summer party. You couldn't really hope for a more perfect evening for a garden party, in England anyway. Its 6pm and still 25 degrees. The wine is flowing (from a free and seemingly bottomless bar) and authors, editors, agents, scouts are all dressed to the nines in a private square in Bloomsbury. So thankful to my mother for insisting I pack one floor length dress.
Armed with my Fujifilm instax camera, (like a mini polaroid) I'm ready for a really good night out. I'm well aware that as an intern I should be prepared to jump into the role of waiter/cleaner/coat-holder/general dogs body, but for the most part I find myself milling around the garden and introducing myself to people, beginning with the young crop of New Faber poets.
Of course, Viv makes an effort to speak to me, cause she's awesome like that, even though it seems as though she has an ever-present periphery of passionate fans. Must be because she has written THE book of the summer - you saw it here first!
Armed with my Fujifilm instax camera, (like a mini polaroid) I'm ready for a really good night out. I'm well aware that as an intern I should be prepared to jump into the role of waiter/cleaner/coat-holder/general dogs body, but for the most part I find myself milling around the garden and introducing myself to people, beginning with the young crop of New Faber poets.
Of course, Viv makes an effort to speak to me, cause she's awesome like that, even though it seems as though she has an ever-present periphery of passionate fans. Must be because she has written THE book of the summer - you saw it here first!
There are a number of 'big names' immediately recognisable in the dusky light (ahem, Kazuo Ishaguro) but I make a beeline for Becky as soon as I see her. Its only been two weeks, but I've missed her! We end up having a couple of drinks and a really good laugh about our respective holiday mishaps as we go round checking in with all her Faber authors.
And what a pleasure meeting Amy Raphael! Author of Never Mind the Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock and official biographer for Mike Leigh and Danny Boyle, she gives me some incredible advice about how to have it all; do what you want, write what you want, be who you want. Just work really f***ing hard. Currently working with David Hare, Steve Coogan, and dressed in a you-wish-you-looked-this-cool-dressed-down get up, we spend a good half hour talking Fowles, Faulkner and Jon Savage, my number one non-fiction writer.
It has to be said though, the best part of the night was hearing how overwhelmingly positive everyone was about each other's work and Faber in general. Authors love their editors, editors love their assistants. Good vibes all around. What an honour to be working at one of the last great independent publishing houses in London.