Laura Barton (born 1977) is an English journalist and writer. She writes mainly for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', and wrote a novel, ''Twenty-One Locks'', published in 2010.

Biography

Barton was born in and grew up in the village of Newburgh in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, and was educated at Winstanley College and read for an English degree at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

. Following graduation, she began writing for ''

'' from 2000 specialising in writing features. She has also written for '' Q'' magazine, '' The Word'', and '' Intelligent Life'', and broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Much of her writing relates to rock and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

, and until late 2011 she wrote a fortnightly column about music for ''The Guardian''s Film and Music supplement, called "Hail, Hail, Rock and Roll", as well as a weekly column on women's issues for the newspaper's ''G2'' supplement, called "The View from a Broad". Her novel, ''Twenty-One Locks'' (2010), recounts the story of "a young small-town girl facing the biggest decision of her life." Carol Birch, reviewing it in ''The Independent'', said "Too much grim-up-north trowel-laying mars Laura Barton's otherwise promising first novel. ... Wonderful writing - but it's hard to engage with such a passively selfish central character." Also in the Independent Rob Sharp wrote "When she lets her words flow they become rhythmic; most of them, however, are painstakingly chiselled." and finishes "I look forward to Barton's second ook/nowiki>." Rosamund Urwin of Evening Standard says "But while well-rendered, the book feels light on ideas. Twenty-One Locks could have been a short story rather than a novel." Barton worked with photographer Sarah Lee on a photo-essay ''West of West: Travels along the edge of America'', which was published by Unbound (2020, ) and featured in ''The Guardian'' and ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

''. Her memoir ''Sad Songs'' is to be published by

Quercus An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

books under its riverrun imprint on 1 May 2025 (). She made a three-part series ''Notes on Music'' for

in 2021, discussing the ages of seventeen in music, "happy sad songs", and

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

. Barton has said she is working on a second novel and a non-fiction book about music. A series of short stories about

Northern soul Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...

was broadcast on Radio 4 in 2011. Barton married in 2004. She subsequently divorced.

References

External links

Laura Barton's staff page
at ''

''
Reviews by Laura Barton
at

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Laura 1977 births Living people Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English women writers English columnists English music journalists English women journalists English women novelists People from the Borough of West Lancashire The Guardian journalists English women columnists British writers about music Women writers about music English women non-fiction writers