Chris Taylor obituary

Chris Taylor spent two years managing a small pub theatre in London, where she cast, stage-managed and acted in the shows, as well as running the box office and front of house Photograph: none

My friend Chris Taylor, who has died of cancer aged 69, described herself modestly on Twitter as “Director of New Writing South, lapsed writer, aspiring cook”. She was rather more than that. Chris was a force. She set up New Writing South, a non-profit organisation, to champion and encourage writers, after running a successful theatre PR business, and also pursued her own creative practice in both writing and the visual arts.

Chris was born in London, the daughter of Rose (nee Warshafski), a legal secretary, and Len Taylor, a school teacher. She enjoyed art at primary school and discovered theatre at secondary school in Southall, where she played lead roles in school productions.