Natali Simmonds

Image by Bilge Can Gürer from Pixabay The ‘suffering artist’ is a romanticised archetype that has been perpetuated throughout history in literature, film, and popular culture. Whether the creative person’s suffering is mental, physical or financial, society tends to place a higher value on art created by those who lack the means to create easily than by those who do not need to struggle. And with that comes the perpetual loop of inequality, unrealistic expectations, and exploitation. I’ve...

The arts and business don’t mix. They should. They need to. But no one likes to talk about the two together. I’ve been a published fiction author for six years and, since 1998, I’ve worked in many forms of marketing. I now have the pleasure of combining my two storytelling passions as a brand consultant for various clients, as well as lecturing on self-branding for creatives at London’s Raindance Film School. In that time I’ve learned that people don’t feel comfortable discovering the...

Good Girls Die Last is feminist reality wrapped in fiction I was so tired of crying. It was the summer of 2021 and the news was full of the horrors of Sarah Everard’s rape and murder in London, the MET policeman who killed her, and the peaceful vigil to honour her that the same police force broke up, resulting in yet more women getting hurt. The country was angry and so was I. Women were scared and I couldn’t remember a time when I hadn’t been. England’s capital city was once again in the...