JENNY Hval is not the only musician who has turned her hand to writing fiction. Here are six of the best (and worst):
Willy Vlautin
The alt.country singer-songwriter is a natural-born storyteller. Sometimes he tells them in song, sometimes in novels. Since he made his fiction debut with The Motel Life, the Richmond Fontaine frontman has written another four novels. All have been well received, but his 2010 book Lean On Pete about a teenage boy who befriends a broken-down racehorse in Oregon is a particular highlight. It won two literary prizes and the accolade “serious American literature.”
Louise Wener
The former Sleeper frontwoman followed up her rather good memoir Different for Girls (later republished under the title Just For One Day), by writing four novels often classed as chick-lit (proving that sexism isn’t just a thing in the music industry). She has also taught novel writing. In recent years, she has returned to performing with Sleeper.
Read More: Jenny Hval on making music and her new horror novel
Jenny Beth
The French frontwoman of neo-punk band Savages went solo earlier this year. And as well as releasing an album To Love is to Live, she published a book of erotic fiction, C.A.L.M.: Crimes Against Love Memories.
Courtney Love
Both Madonna and Geri Horner (nee Halliwell) have both turned their hands to children’s books with various degrees of success. Courtney Love, meanwhile, opted to create a manga character, Princess Ai, in 2004, a strip she co-wrote with Stuart Levy for Tokyopop.
Gerard Way
The frontman of My Chemical Romance also moved into comics with The Umbrella Academy which has since been adapted for Netflix..
Morrissey
Morrissey’s memoir was a huge success, but his fictional follow-up List of the Lost in 2015 was, umm, not. “An unpolished turd” was one of the kinder reviews.
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