Everyone who knows Megan Nolan knows she is a writer of extraordinary talent. Her essays are at once intimately personal and almost cruelly objective, confessional writing raised to the heights of social critique.

For the past year now, Megan has been working on her first novel. All her friends will have seen how she's thrown herself into this project, existing precarious and piecemeal on the proceeds from occasional freelance work. But of course it was always worth it, because the novel was going to be a work of real brilliance.

Last night, Megan had her laptop stolen. Due to an error backing up the manuscript, her novel has been lost.

She's been able to piece some of it back together from drafts attached to emails, but the words she's lost are now most likely gone forever, and with it the time spent producing them, and all the work that went into securing that time.

We believe in Megan's talent, and we want to help her get her novel back.

In the first instance, this means: buying a new laptop. In the second instance this means: raising money so Megan can survive and focus for the next few months as she pieces the novel back together. First £600 or so will go on the laptop, rest of the target is an artist's grant.

If everyone who sees this gives a couple of quid, we can get this important literary talent back on her feet in no time. Cheers!