How this Taylor Swift superfan turned her love of the pop star into a dream career

It doesn’t get better than this for journalist and Swiftie Kelsey Barnes.

Born and raised in Burlington, Ont., the Taylor Swift superfan has built her writing career around the megastar, with Swift-related bylines at publications around the world.

The 31-year-old Barnes splits her time between Toronto and London, England — a perk of dual citizenship, she says — and over the last few years, she’s created a rich portfolio of Swiftie journalism, from an oral history of the singer’s mythic meet-and-greets to a series of listicles (or Swifticles) for the Grammy Awards.

Recently, the U.K.’s Victoria and Albert Museum named Barnes one of four “superfan advisers,” which will allow Barnes and three other megafans to advise senior curator Kate Bailey on all things Swift, with an emphasis on the fandom and Swift’s Eras Tour.

“So many people sent me this job posting when it went up,” said Barnes in an interview. “I was like, ‘Yeah, but it’ll get a million applicants.’ But I applied and then I didn’t hear anything for a while — it was sort of in limbo.

“Eventually they asked me to do an interview and I had to prepare a presentation,” she continued. Barnes used a leather bracelet from the Victoria and Albert collection to talk about Swift’s early fan merchandise, which included braided leather bracelets embossed with song lyrics and quotes.

Soon after her presentation, Barnes won the job, alongside a literature professor, a conservation charity worker and a lifelong superfan.

“Everyone’s very, very passionate,” said Barnes, who says her favourite of Swift’s dozen or so eras is “Reputation.”

“We’re all coming at Taylor Swift from different angles. I come to this with a journalist’s perspective; one of the superfans wrote her dissertation on fandom. One is a creative writing lecturer and she tries to bring Taylor’s lyricism into our work … we’re a well-rounded group of fans, but we’re also able to look at Taylor from a different perspective than someone who’s just a fan, if that makes sense.”

While Barnes has managed to carve out a lucrative writing career thanks to Swift, at the end of the day she’s still a passionate fan. She has met Swift twice and has been an avid listener since her early teens.

“I have a vivid memory of sitting in my room and listening to ‘Teardrops on My Guitar’ when I was 15,” said Barnes, laughing. “As if I could even remotely relate to that song. But she’s really been the through-line of my life: her words, her lyrics. I met my best friend because of the Fearless tour. In all these pivotal moments in my life, Taylor Swift has been the constant through it all.

“When I realized I wanted to pursue writing, I realized I could use this knowledge,” she added. “Not a lot of journalists understand fandom the way I do. So I started to frame my story ideas and pitches around pivotal moments in the Taylor Swift fandom.”

One of Barnes’ favourite Swift-isms stems from the early 2010s “Speak Now” era, in which Swift wrote song lyrics and quotes on her arms to offer fans an inside look at how she was feeling during any given performance. “It was such an interesting way to engage with her audience,” said Barnes.

So far, Barnes has seen Swift’s record-smashing Eras Tour five times, with plans to attend twice more in London. She reviewed opening night of the tour in Glendale, Ariz. for a U.K. newspaper in 2023 and she says it’s one of her favourite memories.

“It was so special,” she said. “I was with my best friends. Every single song was a surprise song, because no one knew what was going to happen. We didn’t even know it was going to be three hours long until about three minutes before she went on, when a random security guard told us we wouldn’t be leaving the stadium until around 11 p.m.

“We were all dying by the end — it was like an out-of-body experience.”

What comes next for Barnes will depend, to an extent, on what’s next for Swift. Rumours about the singer-songwriter’s retirement have been floating around for close to a decade, and time and again Swift has come back with new projects and “eras.” Barnes is ready to ride the wave for as long as she can.

“I think people will always be able to find inspiration and create art from Taylor’s art,” she said.

“That inspiration has always been the most beautiful exchange between Taylor’s work and her fans. That’s sort of how I see my career going; I never want it to seem like I’m using Taylor or her work for my own benefit. I want people to see why fan outreach projects like the 1989 Secret Sessions mattered and why they were so impactful.

“I’m just such a fan and I want to help other people understand that,” added Barnes. “These are stories I love telling.”