27 october 2011 venue - Varsity

magazine editor: Louise Benson
magazine@varsity.co.uk
21st October 2011
www.varsity.co.uk magazine 19
The New Wave of Chick-Lit
Female, a feminist, but most definitely not feminine: Stephanie Theobald talks to
Clemmie Hain-Cole about breaking the ‘meat and two veg’ publishing mould and why
you’ll never find her home on a Saturday baking cupcakes.
When speaking to
the author of four
best-selling novels
and former Senior
editor of Harpers
Bazaar, the last thing that I expected
to begin our interview with was a discussion
of Descartes’ theories of blood
flow and his Discourse on Method. But
then, Stephanie Theobald is no ordinary
female writer. Having spent her
formative years being told by nuns at
her convent school in deepest Cornwall
that she “had the Devil in her” for
having curly auburn hair, Stephanie
was always set to ruffle a few feathers.
Within seconds of Descartes’
treatise, we’re discussing her
inspiration of the moment, a sexy,
fierce Alaskan woman who doesn’t
take no for an answer. No, Stephanie
is not a closeted Sarah Palin fan:
she is captivated by ecowhore.com’s
blog, the tale of a young woman in
the middle of the snowy wilderness,
who cares for an elderly handicapped
woman by day, and roams the woods
for her next man prey by night.
“She basically goes off gathering
herbs and twigs in the woods, and
then she goes off and f*cks some guy
up the arse. I find myself wondering,
is this really bad or is she just totally
in control?” Are all women in control
of their own lives? Stephanie seems
to think so, even if the concept of diehard,
braless feminists has long gone.
“When I interview women, I
always ask whether they’re a
feminist, and they always say ‘Well
I’m not a feminist but…’ It’s almost
as if everyone has become a bit afraid
of the word, and I think it’s reflected
in newspapers, columns and how
novels are presented.
“I interviewed Beyoncé recently,
someone who I think has done a lot
of great things for women, speaking
to all of us all over the world through
her songs about patriarchy, standing
up for yourself and not caring what
people think. Having initially been
scoffed at by her management who
told her she’d never find a female
band, well, of course she did! So on
stage now she has these fantastic
figures, black, dyke, trumpet flared
wearing women. There aren’t enough
stomping, ranting women in the
public eye today.”
It’s easy to understand Stephanie’s
urge to see real women in the public
eye; when I ask her who she thinks
young women should aspire to be,
a list of fairly formidable females
enters the fray. “There’s that great
[Laurel Thatcher Ulrich] quotation:
‘Well-behaved women rarely make
history’, and to me that means pissing
people off and not being scared about
it, wearing your heart on your sleeve
and not caring who sees it. Julie
Burchill, Tracey Emin, Courtney
Love… none of these figures are
those nice women who always say the
right thing, who wear the appropriate
‘Well-behaved
women rarely make
history’, and to me
that means pissing
people off and not
being scared about it
clothes and who stay at home on
Saturdays making cupcakes.”
Stephanie’s experience with
publishers has been a tricky one, as
she refuses to fit into one box. “When
my first book came out, it was on a
new wave of publishing and there
was a sense that something new was
happening, that change was coming.
Biche was published by Hodder and
Stoughton under their new label
‘Flame’, which was actually their
chick lit imprint.”
“Then things changed, the market
exploded and publishers wanted
to make things a bit more uniform,
to fit into the ‘Does my bum look
big in this’ mould. A friend of mine
was even asked to change part of
her story to her protagonist coming
to a great epiphany during a panic
attack rather than during sex! The
publishers started catering to a
specific audience, and a lot of punters
are quite sheep-like, they’ll read the
paper, read a review and go out to
buy it in their local supermarket.
Unless you’re in Tesco, it’s hard to
get your book out there. It’s all about
how the marketers will sell you.”
I wonder how that has affected
the literary output, whether writers
are trying to fit into the mould that
publishers have created. “In the
art world there’s a lot more weird
and wonderful stuff around at the
moment, whereas your average novel
that sells now is a bit ‘meat and two
veg’ and I find myself wondering
where the spark has gone.
But the literary world is not
all doom and gloom, at least not
according to Stephanie: “I’ve huge
confidence in women working
together and making a stand against
the mundane uniform. To a certain
extent, I’m happy that the chick lit
figures are going down as it suggests
we’ll have to remarket in some way.
“Women have a harder lot in life;
we’ve always had to ask for things:
please can we vote, please can we
get a divorce, please can we go to
university… We’ve got a little voice
now and it’s inevitable that marketing
is going to jump on that bandwagon.
They just need to find a snappy line for
women writers, rather than labelling
us all as ‘chick litters’.
“Whilst I was living in France
after I graduated, I was constantly
irritated by the fact that the
adjective for female in French is
feminine, which suggests that we’re
all covered in flowers and wear
pretty dresses. Why can’t women be
strong and successful without being
‘feminine’?”
Stephanie’s interviewer at Jesus
told her back in the late eighties,
“all novels end in either death or
marriage”. Fifteen years later, at
the reading of her first novel back in
college, that fellow ate his words. As
fierce, female (not feminine) writers
continue to flood the literary world -
flowers and pretty dresses are most
certainly nowhere to be seen - the
landscape of the ‘chick-lit’ novel, and
its former proponents, are changing
for good.
Visit varsity.co.uk to read an
interview with Polly Courtney, who
sacked her publisher last month after
being branded as chick-lit.
Occupy London protests
Exactly a month since the Wall Street
protests began, the Occupy movement
has spread to London.Now a
camp has been set up in the shadow
of St Paul’s Cathedral,
with more
than 200 tents,
cooking facilities,
and even a library
tent named
the ‘Freedom
University’.
Films at the
Architecture Faculty
Free film screenings
courtesy of Arcsoc
are back this term
to ward off the bad
weather and give you
a chance to catch a couple of great
films projected on the big screen. First
up this month - Fellini’s Amarcord.
Woody Allen but not Woody Allen
His latest loveletter to Europe takes
the shape of Paris. Fantastically
funny time travel is topped only by
the fact that Woody
seems to have firmly
stepped away from
casting himself in
the lead role - and
about time too, we
say.
Evening talks
Late night poetry readings and talks
are becoming an autumn fixture,
with Jeremy Hardingham’s performance
lectures in full swing, and a
panel discussion and reading of Rae
Armantrout, professor of poetry
at the University of California, this
Friday evening.
Shorter days
We’re already dreading the clocks
going back - and that horrible
moment when you come out from the
library at 5pm and it’s already pitch
dark.
Looking at how we imagine the spaces that we live
in, we asked students to draw a map and present a
photograph of their view of Cambridge, and the places
they most like to spend time in. This week, antonia
Stringer presents the best way to spend an afternoon:
duck watching with a mouth full of banana cake.
LOUiSe BenSOn
1. Duck-watcher’s Paradise
Hours can and have been spent in this
strip grass watching the surprisingly
viscious ducks of Cambridge town.
2. G. David Booksellers
This little bookshop opposite Indigo
Café contains endless second-hand
treasures.
3. Cake Stall
The best place in Cambridge to pick up
a loaf of banana cake.
4. Clowns Cafe
The artwork is terrifying but the
coffee, pasta and service make up for it.
Stone Roses reforming
Their last show in 1996 were
notoriously a shambles, so we’re
hoping they’ve turned it around for
the upcoming tour.
Is it worth the risk
of overturning the
reputation they’ve
garnered over
the last decade,
though?
Sore throats
Definitely a bug going around Cambridge
- feels like a wasp’s got stuck
when you swallow. We dread to think
how we’ll be feeling by Week 5.
5. The Haymakers Pub
It’s a little out of the way (bring your
bike) but a really nice place to see a gig.
6. Vintage Stall
This stall appears every Tuesday and
is a great place for woolly jumpers
to guard against the Narnia that is
Cambridge