Get real with award-winning editor Vanessa Raphaely at Knysna Literary Festival
Known to many as the former. award-winning editor of Cosmopolitan South Africa. Vanessa Raphaely has had a long career in women’s media, including many years in London.
She has now Associated Media Publishing s content editor and is visiting the Knysna Literary Festival early next month to talk about her thrilling debut novel. Plus One, about two young women who find themselves on the darker side of the Hollywood media industry.
The book touches on important themes surrounding women’s issues, many of which led to the creation of the #MeToo movement. Raphael) said that although Plus One is not autobiographical the world it’s set in was. very much, her world.
‘I worked in media in London for over 10 years and spent a lot of time immersed in fashion, beauty, wealth inherited wealth and celebrity. I have famous friends. Hugh Grant did use to drink too much, drop his trousers and waggle Iris bits around at parties I found myself at.
“I once did have to get off a billionaire’s yacht in a hurry and I also had a boyfriend, who is now a hugely successful Hollywood agent. Early on in the process of writing. I was told to only ‘write what you know.’ so I did.”
Plus One is not chic lit nor is it moralistic talc, and Raphael said her editor. Alison Lowry described it well as “dark material written with a light touch”.
“I love this description. The whole issue of women’s power versus men’s is such a wound, that I think the subject matter is really of its time and actually, deadly serious.
“The scenes that deal with rape and misogamy are spot on. I think they read authentic because they are As Claudia says in the book. ‘You show me a skirmish when a woman gets off better than a man’.
“So, I’d say its contemporary fiction, a page-turner with something to say and a very real sting in its tail,” Raphady said, adding that Plus One was written before the #MeToo movement gathered momentum.
“However, in my career, I’ve met more than a few Harveys, Les’, Terry Richardson, Kevin, and Bills, I’m sad to admit .”
• Meet Vanessa Raphaely at Turbine Boutique Hotel on Saturday, March 9. when she will discuss Plus One from 11 am to 12 noon Tickets cost R150 visit www.knysnaliteraryfestival.co.za for detail.
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