Canongate grabs Thorn's tale of women in music

Canongate has acquired a second book from singer and author Tracey Thorn, My Rock ‘n’ Roll Friend, about "rock ‘n’ roll love affairs" and female friendship.

Publishing director Francis Bickmore acquired world rights, including audio to the book from Kirsty McLachlan at David Godwin Associates. It will be published in hardback in April 2021 and follows Another Planet, which Canongate published earlier this month.

In My Rock ‘n’ Roll Friend Thorn explores her relationship with Lindy Morrison, drummer with The Go-Betweens "and for a few formative years in the 1980s, Thorn's best friend," according to Canongate.

“My Rock ‘n’ Roll Friend will be a tale of 1970s activism and agit-prop theatre, lesbian punk bands and police-state cities, rock ‘n’ roll love affairs, the quest for stardom, female friendship and feminism, sex and drugs, Australia and London,” Canongate said. “Crucially, it will look at how the stories of women in music are told and who tells them.”

Thorn is a singer-songwriter and writer, best known for her 17 years in bestselling duo Everything But The Girl. She is based in London and writes a column for the New Statesman as well as Bedsit Disco Queen (Virago).

She said: “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to write this story, and to be working again with Canongate who have been so incredibly supportive during the creation and completion of Another Planet.”

Bickmore said: “On the back of Tracey Thorn’s current bestselling hardback, we are understandably excited to be announcing a new Thorn book for 2021. Her next book idea will explore the trajectories of two artists in motion. It promises to be a brilliant development on her already significant body of prose work, exploring ideas of place, music, art, history, culture and prejudice, through a personal lens.”