The gift of the golden years

It’s nothing new that in the cultural sector, as well as in much of the media, youth continues to be a prized asset. From the 30 under 30s to the lists of (usually young) debut novelists to watch, it can feel at times like writers and artists, however talented, get a decade or two in the limelight before they are thrust to one side to make space for the younger generation.

Riot has worked with the independent publisher, CHEERIO, for several years now, and in that time, Clare Conville and Harriet Vyner have published books by a number of rising stars including Megan Barker and Kandace Siobhan Walker, among others. But two recent campaigns with the publisher have driven home for me how necessary it is that we continue to celebrate writers further along in their careers too.

In April, the octogenarian and psychogeographer Iain Sinclair took readers back to Soho in its artistic heyday, retracing the steps of John Deakin, photographer to the court of Francis Bacon, with his brilliant book, Pariah Genius. Sinclair opens a portal for the reader, taking them to a version of Soho must of us born after 1980 will never know, and surely will never quite return – one where painters rubbed shoulders with gangsters and dockworkers drank among the art world elite.

Just a few weeks later we toasted to the 80^th birthday of the legendary journalist Lynn Barber, and the publication of her new memoir, A Little Art Education. In little more than a hundred pages, Barber recounts her journey from art class hanger-on to Turner Prizer juror, along the way striking up enduring friendships with the likes of David Hockney, Tracey Emin and Sarah Lucas. That’s not to mention a memorable encounter in her early career with a certain Salvador Dalí.

Both of these incredible books have taken me to places I can never go to, and in the company of great artists I’ll never have the chance to meet. In both cases it is only possible because in one way or another the writer too was there. And as a result, so am I.

I’m not the only one to have been affected in this way. Our job has ultimately been to ensure that both titles get the attention in the media that they deserve, and in all the coverage the respect and admiration for these two veterans of their trades has been plain to see. The magazine covers might be dominated by the fresh-faced and bright-eyed, but words like ‘peerless’ and ‘inimitable’ are reserved only for those who have been at the top of their game for the longest time. So here’s to the older generation – and thanks for your memories.