Meet the Industry: In Conversation with Rochelle Dowden-Lord & Lemara Lindsay-Prince

About

Here is your chance to spend time and learn about the publishing from the inside. Brighton Book Festival is delighted to welcome Rochelle Dowden-Lord to our Writers Day.

Rochelle Dowden-Lord is a publishing professional from south London. She has worked at Pan Macmillan, Hachette and Harper Collins. She was a co-host of the popular publishing podcast Main Characters. Lush is her debut novel.

Rochelle will be chatting and answering your questions about publishing and the whole writing process. This event is perfect for writers and readers alike.

About Lush: Four very different people, each at a crucial point in their lives, arrive at a French vineyard estate for a transformative experience - but not the kind they expected. Wine influencer Avery has given up her exploitative but fiercely fought sommelier job to be here, hoping it will earn her the prestige and funds she needs to survive. Rising-star sommelier Cosmo comes from privilege but is struggling to conceal that his life is in freefall. Millionaire Sonny earns scorn for dabbling in his tacky supermarket wine brand, while caustic French critic Maëlys hovers, poised to record their indiscretions. Finally, there's the enigmatic Master, who relishes the sway he holds over his guests almost as much as his partner, Tao, resents it. As glasses are emptied, rivalries fermented and secrets spilled, each must confront hard truths

Lemara Lindsay-Prince is a pioneering editor and cultural producer whose work spans publishing, partnerships, and platform creation—making space, both literal and symbolic, for global majority voices to be seen, heard, and supported. As the former Head of Imprint at #Merky Books, they acquired and shaped culturally resonant titles including Keisha the Sket by Jade LB and memoirs by Olympian Caster Semenya and Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman. Their acquisitions also include influential voices such as the late Virgil Abloh, T. S. Eliot and Forward Prize winner Jason Allen-Paisant, and MacArthur Fellow Tressie McMillan Cottom. They now lead Studio Lemara, a bespoke literary studio dedicated to reimagining the cultural and literary landscape through publishing, cultural programming, and consultancy.