Sarah Champion (born 1970 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

and author. She has documented the

24 Hour Party People ''24 Hour Party People'' is a 2002 British biographical comedy-drama film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Wint ...

era and edited several collections of chemical fiction, including ''Disco Biscuits'' in 1997.

Career

Champion started publishing while still going to school in Chorlton,

, producing the fanzine ''Alarm'' as a fourteen-year-old on a photocopier. ''Alarm'' sold well and was reviewed in other Manchester fanzines like ''Debris'' and ''Blackpool Rox''. Before long, Champion started writing for ''Debris''. Leaving school and moving to London for a while, Champion wrote for '' New Musical Express'' but then returned to Manchester to become a freelance writer. She went on to contribute a weekly column in the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

''. At the same time, she ran her own

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

record label and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

company, and wrote ''And God Created Manchester'', a book about Manchester's music scene. Champion then became involved in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

world and travelled to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

writing about club culture for music publications including ''Trance Europe Express'', ''

MixMag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'' and '' Melody Maker''. In the 1990s, Champion edited four anthologies of fiction for Sceptre and Penguin which were accompanied by CD releases and club nights. This was followed by '' Disco 2000'' — a book about pre-millennial paranoia, ''Shenanigans'' — about

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

after dark, and ''Fortune Hotel'' — a collection of twisted travel stories. Champion visited

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

where she worked for Asian pop and travel websites and as a news and business editor for an English language newspaper for two years. In 2004, she was mistaken for the blogging prostitute Belle de Jour. Since then, Champion has been living between

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and

working on various creative projects including for

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...

pioneers

Radio Regen Radio Regen is a charity based in Manchester, UK, that provides training in community radio. Origins Emerging from the kernel idea of radio training for unemployed people, Radio Regen was born as a non-profit organisation in April 1999, in part ...

. In June 2006 she moved back to London. In August 2006 she wrote a cover story for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

''s Review section about the return of

rave culture A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mu ...

References

External links

The other Sarah Champion's profile at absoluteradio.co.uk
* ttp://www.radioregen.org Radio Regen 1970 births Living people English music journalists Writers from Manchester British women journalists 20th-century British women writers 20th-century English non-fiction writers Women writers about music {{UK-journalist-stub