RAISING THE BARR

We spoke to Damian Barr, journalist, author and host of the Shoreditch House Literary Salon, about his Aubin & Wills outpost, appetite for gossip and the stint as a literary call-boy that made it all happen. 

How did the Literary Salon initially come about?

My background is as a journalist and a writer; while I was working on a new radio play for Radio 4 I needed some peace and quiet so decided that a hotel was the right place, you have someone to make your bed and clean for you and you can write all day in your pajamas. So I went about trying to find a way to stay in a hotel for nothing and came up with the idea to be what is essentially a literary call-boy. I would go around the hotel with a bag of books and read to people. It was so popular that I was booked out the whole time and it became a media sensation. I didn't write a word of my play but this episode made me realise that there is a real appetite and love for books, so I wanted to come up with an event for all the people who loved books but didn't go to book events because they seemed middle aged, middle brow and middle classed.

What sets the Literary Salon apart from other book events?

The Literary Salon is as much a social event as it is about writers. I am interested in the writers as people, which is why I interview them and take questions from the audience. I want to know about their social life, their political views, I want to get to know the person behind the story, I want to know all these things. So the salon was about creating a social and cultural event where everybody's on the same platform and it's exclusive but not excluding.

Do you consider yourself a curator of sorts?

I suppose there is a little of the curator to it. A lot of people say to me 'shouldn't you just sit down and do your book' and I say I've never 'only done one thing at a time' in my entire life. I really understand that whole model/actor/photographer thing, I don't want to be limited to only one project. I use my skills as a journalist at my salon, I've interviewed thousands of people now so I know how to do an interview and I love it, I am very lucky, it's great to be able to talk to people about their books and their ideas and find out more about them as people and get the gossip about their stories.

What's the atmosphere like?

It's very buzzy, it's free, it's genuine, there is wine, it's relaxed and it's all about the experience and people love it. There's no chin stroking or knowing nodding. It's great for the authors too because they are able to reach an audience that they would never normally reach. People come from all over the world and I've also overheard that guys go there to find attractive and intelligent women. It's ok, I approve of that!

What have been some of the salon's finest moments?

David Nicolls launched One Day at the salon before he released it anywhere else in the world, Helen Fielding wrote the opening of the new Bridget Jones' Diary so she could read it at the salon. We get a real mixture of authors, in other salons you get the same old authors, the same old faces but I like to get people in advance of publications and mix it up in terms of the format so they're interested to be there as much as we are. I like that emerging authors get to meet really established ones; Diana Athill loves to meet Naomi Alderman because ordinarily they wouldn't be in the same room as each other.

Can you reveal anything about the book you're currently writing?

It's being published by Bloomsbury and it's called 'Maggie and Me', it's a memoir about growing up in the 80s when Margaret Thatcher dominated the country politically, culturally and socially, she was everywhere. So it is about my relationship with her and how she is essentially my other mother. I'm not a fan, she was cool in a weird way but she was also monstrous and her politics were horrific. The book is about being caught between the individual and the ideology, I hate the ideology but I am absolutely a product of it; an entrepreneurial, self made, independent man who at the same time is left-leaning, gay and lots of other things that Margaret Thatcher wouldn't love.

What advice would you offer to aspiring writers?

I think as a writer you can't be precious, you need to accept that although it's your story, your character and your idea you've got to let go and let them out into the world to be read. If you want to be published eventually, you need to let go sooner or later. Writing is personal, but don't take it personally. Also write, I hate people who say they are writers who don't write. If you want to be a writer, sit down and write. Writing is a craft and making your writing better is a craft and you need to work at it to get better at it. I am constantly mortified by stuff that I wrote years ago, total shame, but you've got to take that on the chin.