Lauren J. Joseph In Conversation

Join Blackwell’s Manchester, in partnership with the University of Manchester’s Centre for New Writing, for an evening with Lauren J. Joseph, discussing her novel Lean Cat, Savage Cat.

The novel follows Charli, a recent art school graduate adrift in London, whose life takes a sudden turn when she meets the magnetic and enigmatic musician Alexander Geist. Drawn to his charisma and sense of possibility, she follows him to Berlin, where the two immerse themselves in the city’s intense creative and nightlife scene.

Together, they set out to transform Alexander into a cultural icon, but as ambition and desire intertwine, Charli becomes increasingly entangled in a world shaped by illusion, control and self-destruction. As Alexander’s identity proves unstable and elusive, Charli is forced to confront the cost of obsession and the blurred boundaries between self and other.

Exploring themes of fame, creativity and the fragmented self, Lean Cat, Savage Cat is a sharp and atmospheric novel about longing, performance and the pursuit of recognition.

Lauren J. Joseph is a writer and artist whose work spans film and performance as well as fiction. Her debut novel, At Certain Points We Touch, was widely acclaimed and named a book of the year by several publications.