For seventeen years Annie Mac was a trusted voice on BBC Radio 1, sharing new music and stories with millions of listeners. Today she brings that same curiosity to novels, podcasts and nights out that bring people together.
Get to know Annie
Annie Macmanus is an internationally renowned author, broadcaster and DJ. Over a twenty-year career in the arts she has built a far-reaching cultural presence rooted in quality, integrity and authenticity.
She presented BBC Radio 1's flagship new music show for seventeen years before leaving to focus on writing and podcasting. She championed female and LGBTQ+ artists throughout, and still plays the biggest festival stages and the best clubs in the world.
Her debut novel Mother Mother was a Sunday Times bestseller. Her second, The Mess We're In, has been bought for TV adaptation. Her third, The Fox, is published by Canongate in February 2027.
She now presents the BBC podcast Sidetracked with Nick Grimshaw, and writes Changes, a weekly newsletter on Substack about life, culture and the things that matter.
What's on
Club nights, festivals, and the monthly London Irish Literary Salon.
03Oct
Sat
DJ
Annie headlines the day-into-night reopening of the Leeds warehouse, with Horse Meat Disco, Shee, Marcia Carr and Junior Simba.
TESTBEDLeeds · 2pm
Tickets14Oct
Wed
Literary
Annie in conversation with Louise Kennedy and Mary Costello, two of Ireland's finest writers, at her monthly salon in Camden.
London Irish CentreLondon · 8pm
Tickets16Oct
Fri
DJ
The full club night, 7pm until midnight.
Invisible Wind FactoryLiverpool · 7pm
Tickets19Oct
Mon
Literary
A special edition of the salon: Annie in conversation with Maggie O'Farrell.
London Irish CentreLondon · 7.30pm
Sold out18Dec
Fri
DJ
Before Midnight takes up residence at Outernet. Doors 7pm, done by midnight.
Outernet LiveLondon · 7pm
On sale Fri 2 Oct, 10amTicketsClubbing
Before Midnight is rewriting the rules of clubbing. It's the full club experience, with extended sets, proper sound systems and local warm-up DJs, but everything wraps up before midnight.
No more choosing between a night out and functioning the next day. Before Midnight brings the energy, the community and the magic of the dance floor forward, so you can lose yourself in the music and still make it home at a reasonable hour.
Annie plays extended sets alongside carefully chosen guests. It started in spring 2022, sold out Finsbury Park in 2023 and now fills Alexandra Palace.
Presenting · BBC Sounds
with Nick Grimshaw
Sidetracked is Annie and Nick Grimshaw's music podcast for BBC Sounds. Every week they sit down with the biggest names in music for honest, funny and revealing conversations about the songs, stories and moments that made them.
From breakthrough artists to global stars, it goes deeper than the usual interview: the creative process, the highs and lows of the industry, and the tracks that changed everything.
Weekly on Substack
Weekly essays on music, life and everything in between.
And being part of ‘the family of things’.
Read · 8 min
The Grace Of The World and Love Is Blind...
Donal Ryan - Where Are The Kings
Six questions and answers on change...
Hares, charades and a frozen shoulder...
A sneak peak at the cover of my new novel The Fox..
A Return To Ibiza And The Aphex Twin Of Literary Fiction....
Books
Three novels about family, place, and what it means to belong. From Belfast to Kilburn to a stranger on a dating app.
“A beautifully natural, offbeat story of love and betrayal”
Carmel is fifty-three, widowed, and furious at her husband for dying. When she meets a fellow widower called Graham on a dating app, she lets herself hope again. Across the sea in London, Lisa has built her life around helping other people.
When the two women's lives collide, it sets off a connection neither of them could have imagined. A taut, psychologically sharp novel about romance fraud, desire and the need to be seen.
2023
“Tender, hilarious, sad, hopeful” Louise Kennedy
Orla Quinn arrives in London at the turn of the millennium and moves into a squalid Kilburn house with her best friend and a band called Shiva. She wants to make music, but two jobs and a party every night aren't helping, and as the hype around the band grows, so does the hedonism.
2021 · Sunday Times bestseller
“A page-turning exploration of grief, addiction, young motherhood and unbreakable family ties” British Vogue
Set in Belfast, Annie's debut is a coming-of-age novel and an intimate family study: a mother who disappears, and a son looking for answers across generations of family history.
From the road, the studio and everywhere in between
01 / 07
Bookings & enquiries
For DJ bookings, speaking engagements, press or collaborations, get in touch with Annie's team.
Soft Serve Management