Voted the British Press Awards' columnist, critic, and interviewer of the year, this popular journalist and broadcaster penned several weekly columns for The Times; hosted a Channel 4 music program; and published a Galaxy National Book Award-winning work titled How to Be a Woman. She won a Dillons essay contest at the age of thirteen and an Observer young reporter award at age fifteen. At sixteen, she became a music critic for Melody Maker magazine and also wrote and published a novel titled The Chronicles of Narmo.