Monocle 24: Meet the Writers: Recent Episodes
Monocle
Want to know more about the authors behind your favourite books? Tune in to discover the methods of – and inspiration behind – some of the world’s most exciting writers. Every Saturday, Georgina Godwin hosts an in-depth discussion with the person behind the prose.
Georgina Godwin meets bestselling author Kathy Lette to discuss her rebellious youth, her Puberty Blues breakthrough, motherhood and her new novel, The Sisterhood Rules, which celebrates the power of sisterly relationships.
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Georgina Godwin meets writer Nicholas Boggs to trace the life of James Baldwin in his new biography ‘Baldwin: A Love Story’.
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Booker Prize-longlisted writer Chloe Aridjis is the author of Book of Clouds, Asunder and Sea Monsters. Her fourth novel, The Shadow of the Object, moves between Mexico City and London in a tale of illness, friendship, magic lanterns, silver polishing, grief and the strange charge of objects.
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Georgina Godwin meets Raoul de Jong to discuss his book ‘Jaguarman’, now translated into English, which explores his Suriamese heritage through the prism of a mystical ancestor.
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Georgina Godwin meets writer and journalist Erica Wagner to discuss the life of Brooklyn Bridge engineer Washington Roebling, in her new work, ‘Wash’.
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Georgina Godwin meets economist Victoria Bateman to discuss her latest work, Economica, which explores and rewrites our understanding of women’s role in the economy.
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Georgina Godwin meets Ben Faccini to discuss how his multicultural upbringing shaped his writing and the themes of his latest novel, ‘Other People’s Children’, including wartime Italy, memory and family.
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Georgina Godwin meets journalist Oliver Bullough, who explores money laundering in the most unlikely of places in his latest work, Everybody Loves Our Dollars.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to Anuradha Roy on living in the Himalayas as detailed in her latest work, ‘Called by the Hills’.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to former Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who reflects on identity, leadership and life after politics. From Brexit and Biden to the coronavirus pandemic and stepping down, he shares lessons from power and public service.
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Georgina Godwin sits down with the winners of the 2026 Women’s Prize for fiction and non-fiction, Virginia Evans for The Correspondent and Lyse Doucet for The Finest Hotel in Kabul.
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Georgina Godwin meets Tim Wu, the man who coined the term “net neutrality” in Silicon Valley, and discusses his book ‘The Age of Extraction’, which critiques the extractive practices of tech giants.
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Georgina Godwin meets Tayari Jones at the 2026 Hay Festival. Jones details her upbringing and her path into writing leading to her new novel, ‘Kin’.
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Georgina Godwin meets award-winning writer Judy Blume at the Santa Fe International Literary Festival. She shares career moments and her thoughts on the future of literary works in the US in the current political climate.
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Georgina Godwin meets Julia Franck, a writer born in East Berlin, who shares insight into her upbringing, literary influences and her memoir, ‘Worlds Apart’, which explores her Jewish heritage.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to Romania-born author Oana Aristide about communism, satire and fiction, while tracing her journey from macroeconomics and political advising to her latest novel, ‘Astronaut!’.
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Ahead of the 2026 Santa Fe International Literary Festival, Georgina Godwin speaks to Megan Mulry, the executive director, to discuss this year’s event and the importance of global literary engagements.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by journalist and novelist Ece Temelkuran. Forced exile led to her writing in English and producing her latest work, Nation of Strangers: Rebuilding Home in the 21st Century, which explores the concept of home and belonging.
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Georgina Godwin meets Nicholas Thompson, CEO of ‘The Atlantic’, to discuss ‘The Running Ground’, a memoir which intertwines his career in journalism, his relationship with his father and his passion for running.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by writer and poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths to discuss her memoir, ‘The Flower Bearers’, a deeply moving portrait of love, loss and the power of bearing witness in a fractured world.
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Georgina Godwin meets award-winning documentarian Catherine Carr to discuss the exploration into sibling dynamics that led to her new book, ‘Who’s the Favourite?’, which gives insight into birth order, roles, and the impact of estrangement and loss.
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Georgina Godwin meets Maria Semple, bestselling author of ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’, to discuss her new book, ‘Go Gentle’, which follows a divorced stoic philosopher’s mid-life transformation.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by Sasha Debevec-McKenney to discuss the writer’s debut poetry collection “Joy is My Middle Name”, which is shortlisted for the 2026 Dylan Thomas Prize.
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Georgina Godwin meets Margaret Busby, Britain’s first black publisher. They discuss her career, the landmark anthology ‘Daughters of Africa’ and new release ‘Part of the Story: Writings from Half a Century’.
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Following the release of her memoir, ‘The Hour of the Wolf’, Fatima Bhutto joins Georgina Godwin at the Daunt Books Festival 2026.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by renowned writer Francis Spufford. They discuss his early days at Chatto & Windus, his wrangles with sceptics and latest novel, ‘Nonesuch’, which is set in London during the Blitz.
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Georgina Godwin meets journalist and historian Luka Ivan Jukic, whose latest book, Central Europe: The Death of a Civilization and the Life of an Idea, explores the emergent rebirth of the region.
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It’s International Women’s Day and Georgina Godwin is joined by a former model who helped transform Lewes FC into the world’s first equal-pay football club. She discusses ‘Pitch Invasion’, a story about sport, culture and Britain’s global soft power.
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Georgina Godwin meets Tom Freston to discuss his memoir, Unplugged. It traces his journey from launching MTV and shaping Comedy Central to how philanthropy reshaped his sense of purpose and reinvention.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by Maria Alyokhina, who shares insight into her latest memoir, Political Girl, and her hopes for the future of Russia.
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Georgina Godwin speaks with author Bora Chung about her life and activism, the rise of South Korean literature and her short-story collection The Midnight Timetable, which explores speculative fiction and political themes.
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Georgina Godwin meets Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov, who shares his experiences from four years of war, the impact of conflict on daily life and the role of culture in resistance.
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Damien Barr meets Georgina Godwin to reflect on childhood shaping his memoir and novel, examining class, his move from journalism to fiction and celebrating overlooked Scottish artists via writing, theatre and an exhibition.
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Georgina Godwin meets Alexander B Smalls, tracing his path from opera to food writing via his family roots, landmark restaurants and books championing African cuisine, community and cultural pride.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to Steve Crawshaw about his book Prosecuting the Powerful, including cases from Milošević and Putin to Netanyahu. Plus: the ICC, US hostility and why accountability matters in Gaza and Ukraine.
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Georgina Godwin meets US psychologist and author Mary L Trump. They discuss her upbringing within the Trump family, pivoting from psychology to writing memoirs and what’s next for America and its politics.
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EA Hanks joins Georgina Godwin in the studio to discuss her debut memoir The 10, which recounts a solo journey, retracing family ties and the memory of her late mother.
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Georgina Godwin speaks with writer-guide Manni Coe about his memoir Little Ruins, tracing his Yorkshire roots, music, struggles and plans for new books and tours.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to British journalist and author India Knight on what makes a home worth living in her latest novel "Home"
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Georgina Godwin meets John Lloyd, one of the men behind ‘The Meaning of Liff’. He shares insight on working with Douglas Adams and the impact of the humorous dictionary on its 42nd anniversary.
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Georgina Godwin sits down with Sir Michael Palin, who shares insight into his upbringing, his start in comedy with Monty Python and his latest venture, ‘Michael Palin in Venezuela’.
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Georgina Godwin speaks with Mitchell Kaplan, the founder of Miami Book Fair. They discuss his switch in career to becoming a bookseller, influencing the city’s literary culture and adapting to new reading trends.
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Georgina Godwin meets American writer and historian Harlan Greene at the 2025 Charleston Literary Festival to discuss the playwright Dorothy Heyward, who is the subject of Greene’s book ‘Porgy’s Ghost’.
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Georgina Godwin meets David Szalay, winner of the 2025 Booker Prize, at Charleston Literary Festival. They discuss his winning novel, Flesh, his connection to the UK, his multicultural upbringing and the prize’s impact.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by Kiran Desai, whose novel ‘The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny’ was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize. She discusses her New Delhi childhood, political unrest and the influence of her mother, Anita Desai.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by Helen Garner, the 2025 winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, who shares insight into How to End a Story: Collected Diaries.
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Richard Armitage discusses moving from acting to writing with ‘The Cut’, which explores trauma and memory. Reflecting on his Leicestershire roots, immersive roles and empathy, Armitage seeks a balance between storytelling on stage and page.
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Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia editor for The Times and Sunday Times, shares memories of his upbringing in Southport and his Blockbusters prize trip to Japan, which sparked a desire to cover the continent during his career.
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French author Olivier Norek presents ‘The Winter Warriors’, his first historical novel, on the 1939 Soviet invasion of Finland. He joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his research and why this story deserves global recognition.
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Writer Sam Sussman joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his US upbringing, relationship with his mother and the op-ed that developed into his debut novel, ‘Boy from the North Country’.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to Juhea Kim about her path from ballet to bestsellers, the inspirations behind her work, her passion for conservation and the television adaptation of her debut novel, ‘Beasts of a Little Land’.
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Writer and filmmaker Priyanka Mattoo joins Georgina Godwin following the release of her memoir, ‘Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones’, which details a journey of self-discovery and finding home in an ever-changing world.
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Journalist Michael Wolff joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his career and his perception of Donald Trump, leading to his ‘Fire and Fury’ series. Plus: he shares his view on the political landscape in the media.
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R James Breiding, Naissance Capital founder and author, recounts his path from Catholic school to finance. He champions small nations’ strengths, praises Singapore’s healthcare and highlights lessons from Nordic countries.
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Georgina Godwin interviews Michelle de Kretser on her Sri Lankan roots, family influences, migration to Australia and her novel ‘Theory & Practice’, which explores desire, jealousy and identity.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by the chronicler of London’s psychogeographies, Iain Sinclair. His latest novel, ‘Pariah Genius’, traces the footsteps of photographer John Deakin.
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Nick Berg joins Georgina Godwin to discuss ‘Shadows of Tehran’, a novel mirroring the author’s life in Iran before and after the revolution. He reflects on activism, escape, military service and Iran’s future.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by Iris Wolff to discuss her childhood in Romania, emigrating to Germany in the 1980s and the use of language and creative processes in the writing of her novel ‘Blurred’.
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Russian journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, exiled in London, discuss ‘Our Dear Friends in Moscow’. The conversation ranges from post-Soviet transformations and censorship to their ongoing investigative reporting on Russian intelligence.
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Karin Slaughter joins Georgina Godwin to reflect on her upbringing and her latest novel, ‘We Are All Guilty Here’. Plus: she shares her criticisms of book banning and censorship in the US.
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Georgina Godwin speaks with women directing major literary festivals worldwide, from Edinburgh and Auckland to Sydney and Dubai. She explores their histories, audiences, themes and reach, highlighting diverse programming, cultural impact and international connections.
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Nick Harkaway joins Georgina Godwin to discuss life with John le Carré as a father and carrying on his legacy with the latest installment in the George Smiley series: ‘Karla’s Choice’.
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Canadian author Jean McNeil reflects on her journey from Cape Breton Island to Antarctica in a conversation that explores grief, climate change and honouring the earth through her latest novel, ‘Latitudes’.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to Guadalupe Nettel about her award-winning writing, life between Mexico and France, partial blindness and how human and animal behaviour inspires the themes in her latest work, ‘The Accidentals’.
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New Zealand literary giant C K Stead joins Georgina Godwin to discuss aging, mortality and his early fascination with poetry. He also reflects on his influential role in shaping New Zealand’s literature.
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Karim Kattan joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his upbringing in Bethlehem, putting Palestine in his own words and writing ‘The Palace on the Higher Hill’.
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Georgina Godwin speaks with Michael and Matariki Bennett, co-curators of the Auckland Writers Festival, about their Māori heritage, the kōhanga reo movement and addressing sociopolitical issues through art.
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Damian Le Bas joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his latest work, ‘The Drowned Places’, which delves into the myth of Atlantis and the sunken worlds beneath the ocean’s surface.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to Argentine author Agustina Bazterrica about her shift from opera to writing, literary influences and her novels exploring oppression, capitalism and control.
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Esther Freud reflects on her childhood and literary journey to ‘My Sister and Other Lovers’, which follows two sisters facing secrets and heartbreak.
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Georgina Godwin meets Damien Wilkins, the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Award winner for fiction with his novel ‘Delirious’. Wilkins reflects on his early literary influences, past work and transitioning to songwriting.
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Eliza Reid speaks to Georgina Godwin about growing up in Ottawa, her time as Iceland’s first lady and her debut whodunit, ‘Death of a Diplomat’.
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Meike Ziervogel joins Georgina Godwin to discuss her literary and humanitarian journey, and her new novel, Shams.
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Georgina Godwin meets Yael Van Der Wouden and Rachel Clarke, the winners of the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction and Non-Fiction for their works ‘The Safekeep’ and ‘The Story of A Heart’.
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Author Miranda Cowley Heller speaks to Georgina Godwin at Adelaide Festival about the personal and literary crucible of her upbringing in a bohemian family of artists and writers.
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Ewan Morrison joins Georgina Godwin to discuss the inspiration behind his ninth book, For Emma. His first science-fiction novel follows a grieving father in search of answers after the death of his daughter.
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Tiffany Watt Smith joins Georgina Godwin to discuss her new release, ‘Bad Friend’, which explores the dynamics of female friendships with personal insights from Smith’s own life.
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Broadcaster Jeremy Vine sits down with Georgina Godwin to share details about his upbringing in Surrey, his entry into reporting as a political correspondent and writing a cosy mystery novel, Murder on Line One.
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Gazan journalist Ahmed Alnaouq joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his upbringing, losing family in a 2014 Israeli bombing and co-founding We Are Not Numbers, a network dedicated to sharing Palestinian stories beyond the headlines.
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Lynda La Plante speaks to Georgina Godwin about the latest addition to her Detective Jack Warr series, ‘Crucified’, as well as her research methods, personal challenges and experiences with psychics.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by Jenny Mustard to discuss her upbringing in Sweden, new novel ‘What A Time To Be Alive’ and the challenges of writing literary fiction.
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AC Grayling has written theses and philosophies about society and the world for decades. His latest work, ‘Discriminations: Making Peace in the Culture Wars’, proffers the argument that discrimination is a human rights issue and if fully respected, there would be no discrimination. Speaking to Georgina Godwin, Grayling shares insights into his upbringing, starting his own university and the issues behind the culture wars.
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As an award-winning journalist, Rachel Shabi has reported for ‘The Times’, ‘The Guardian’, Al Jazeera English and many more besides. Her coverage of the Middle East, in particular the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the resurgence of antisemitism, led to ‘Off White: The Truth About Antisemitism’. The book addresses the need to understand and confront antisemitism at a time when it is being downplayed and exploited. Shabi speaks to Georgina Godwin about her upbringing, the fluidity of Jewish identity and the historical context of antisemitism.
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Stephen May has a penchant for reimagining the lives of historical figures and his new novel, ‘Green Ink’, is a case in point. May evocatively explores what could have happened on firebrand politician Victor Grayson’s last day. The former socialist MP suspiciously disappeared one night in September 1920. May joins Georgina Godwin to share insights on writing, creativity and his role at Arts Council England.
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Natasha Brown’s 2021 debut ‘Assembly’ was met with critical acclaim, shortlisted for several awards including the Folio Prize, the Goldsmiths Prize and the Orwell Prize for Fiction, and translated into 17 languages. Her second novel ‘Universality’ is another extension of her talent, exploring the effect of language and applying to certain narratives affecting society today. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about the success of ‘Assembly’, exploring journalism as a genre and the idea of writing with objectivity.
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The history of Zanzibar is prevalent in the work of Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, including his new release, ‘Theft’, which is set in the 1990s and explores themes of injustice, class and personal growth. Abdulrazak speaks to Georgina Godwin about his upbringing in Britain following the revolution in his home country, his PhD on West African fiction and his transition from academia to fiction.
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As a fiction writer, essayist and journalist, Lauren Markham’s work most often concerns issues related to youth, migration, the environment and her home state of California. ‘A Map of Future Ruins’ explores the global immigration crisis’s historical, contemporary and, of course, future implications. Speaking with Georgina Godwin during the Lannan Literary Festival at Georgetown University, Lauren shares stories of her Greek upbringing, working with refugee communities and her future work.
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Janet de Neefe’s explorations of cooking and writing have seen her publish her hybrid memoir-cookbook ‘Fragrant Rice’ and open various restaurants and guesthouses in Bali, Indonesia. Speaking to Georgina Godwin in Ubud, De Neefe discusses her many businesses, including founding the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, her Balinese cultural integration and spirituality, and further plans.
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Tash Aw’s writing puts the history and reality of Southeast Asia on the page. His latest novel, ‘The South’, is the first in a quartet series exploring family struggles amid climatic and economic change. Speaking to Georgina Godwin, Aw discusses his upbringing, his influences, his relationship with Malaysia and the reality behind the glossy image of Southeast Asia.
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Ram Murali’s pivot from law to filmmaking sparked his route into writing. His debut novel, ‘Death In the Air’, blends elements of an Agatha Christie whodunnit with the sumptuous setting of a world-class spa in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. He speaks to Georgina Godwin at the 2025 Galle Literary Festival about his diverse career background and the importance of India’s cultural community at literary events.
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Benjamin Moser joins Georgina Godwin to talk about his journey from growing up in Texas and writing his first book, ‘Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector’, to winning a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Susan Sontag, titled ‘Sontag: Her Life and Work’. Moser also reflects on culture, class, writing and hints at his next project, a political history of Jews who oppose Zionism.
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Sandip Roy’s writing career started when he pivoted from software engineering to broadcasting. Currently a columnist and podcaster, he’s been a longtime commentator on NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’, the most-listened-to radio programme in the US, and an editor with Pacific News Service and New America Media in San Francisco. After returning to India over the span of 10 years, Roy also sent more than 500 weekly dispatches from Kolkata for public radio station KALW in San Francisco. His debut novel, ‘Don’t Let Him Know’, won a Likho Award in India and was honour title for the Asian Pacific American Literature Award in the US. It was also longlisted for the DSC South Asia Prize and the Green Carnation Prize. Roy speaks to Georgina Godwin at the 2025 Kolkata Literary Meet and discusses his early days in the post-9/11 US media, his award-winning novel and the evolution of Indian literature.
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Angelo Tijssens’ screenwriting credits include ‘Girl’ (2018), about a trans ballerina, and ‘Close’ (2022), an Oscar-nominated film that follows the friendship between a pair of 13-year-old boys. In Tijssens’ first foray into literary fiction, ‘The Edges’, an unnamed narrator returns to his hometown to settle his mother’s affairs following her death. While there he finds comfort in the arms of a former lover. It’s a tale of young love and deep emotion sharply contrasted with an abusive childhood and an adulthood lived on the edges. Told in searing prose that grips with the tender assuredness of a seasoned stylist, ‘The Edges’ is no ordinary debut. Tijssens speaks with Georgina Godwin about his career and the catharsis of writing literary fiction.
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For Maggie Mackellar, writing was never in her plans. She initially wanted to be a vet or mountain climber before eventually settling into a career as an academic. Mackellar’s love for writing came while studying a PhD in history at the University of Sydney. Now, as a writer and historian living on the east coast of Tasmania, Maggie writes the much-loved newsletter The Sit Spot and is the author of five books, including ‘Graft’, which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and longlisted for the Stella Prize in 2024. Joining Georgina Godwin during Adelaide Writer’s Week 2024, she speaks about her upbringing, motherhood and her career so far.
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Booker Prize shortlisted writer Caryl Phillips is one of contemporary literature’s master stylists. His latest novel, ‘Another Man in the Street’, chronicles a West Indian man’s journey to England as part of the Windrush Generation and his struggles therein. As we follow this engrossing emigre from Saint Kitts to London with dreams of becoming a journalist, Phillips paints a gritty landscape of 1960s Notting Hill and a vivid portrait of exile, resistance and belonging. He speaks to Georgina Godwin on his upbringing in Leeds, his connections to Saint Kitts and his thoughts on the treatment of the Windrush Generation.
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Charles Hecker’s 40-year career has seen him travelling and reporting from both the Soviet Union and Russia. He has worked as a journalist and a geopolitical risk consultant, and has lived in Miami, Moscow and now London. His new book, ‘Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia’, charts the rollercoaster story of Western capitalists and their misadventures in post-communist Russia. He sits down with Georgina Godwin to share details of his upbringing, reading at the University of Pennsylvania and his foray into geopolitics.
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“Education for girls is the family business,” says Sudanese-British broadcast journalist Zeinab Badawi. She tells us about her family and career, and what it’s like to interview the world’s most notable politicians on BBC’s ‘Hard Talk’. Badawi explains how her groundbreaking TV series, ‘The History of Africa’, for which she visited 34 African countries over seven years, led her to write her debut book ‘An African History of Africa’.
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We look back at the Charleston Literary Festival in South Carolina. Its roots lie in Charleston House in the UK, home of radical writers, artists and thinkers. Georgina Godwin speaks to executive director Sarah Moriarty and artistic director Diana Reich about the origin of the festival. Plus: development director Suzanne Pollak, co-founder of the Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits, shares her thoughts on the reading community in the US.
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Julie Taymor is a tour de force when it comes to penning scripts for theatre, film and opera. Her 1997 stage adaptation of Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ secured 11 Tony Award nominations, including a win for best direction. It is now the third-longest-running show on Broadway of all time and is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Her 1999 directorial debut, ‘Titus’, earned her an Oscar nomination for best costume design, while her 2002 film, ‘Frida’, led to five nominations. Here she joins Georgina Godwin to speak about her stellar career, working with international theatre companies and her upbringing in 1960s America.
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As Channel 4’s international editor, Lindsey Hilsum has seen war in six continents across more than two decades. As a witness to the catastrophic effects of conflict, Lindsey would carry works of poetry with her to try and make sense of the world. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her book, ‘I Brought the War with Me”, which collates her favourite poems alongside memories of her own work, whether speaking to child soldiers in Uganda, soldiers in Ukraine or giving testimonies of the Rwandan genocide.
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Namita Gokhale is the author of 25 works of fiction and non-fiction. Her oeuvre spans various genres including novels, short stories, Himalayan studies, mythology, anthologies, books for young readers and a play. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her childhood, illustrious career and being the recipient of many awards.
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After winning the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, Richard Flanagan joins Georgina Godwin to discuss ‘Question 7’, his life and career, and his plans after winning the prize. Described by Peter Carey as maybe just being “the most significant work of Australian art in the last 100 years”, ‘Question 7’ is a love letter to his island home, his parents and the terrible past that delivered him to that place.
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Mike Batt is known for raising the popularity of one of the most well-known British novelty pop acts of the 1970s, The Wombles. Batt wrote and composed the theme song to the children’s TV series, which led to the rising popularity of ‘The Wombling Song’. Batt has also worked with artists such as Katie Melua and others on his Dramatico Label, and co-wrote 'The Phantom of The Opera’. He sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss his memoir, ‘The Closest Thing to Crazy: My Life of Musical Adventures’.
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As the first female commander in the Ukrainian military, Yulia Mykytenko has seen the horrors of war. Yulia is both a squadron leader and a role model for women wanting to fight for their country on the frontlines and in the background. Telling Lara Marlowe of her entry into Ukraine’s forces, ‘How Good It Is I Have No Fear of Dying’ recounts her student days giving out flyers for an independent Ukraine up to her current military service in the face of Russia’s invasion. Yulia and Lara speak to Georgina Godwin about their collaborative writing process, the uses of poetry, hope for Ukraine’s future and Volodymyr Zelensky’s great plan to win the war.
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As one of Sweden’s most prominent music journalists, Jan Gradvall has a close and fond relationship with his nation’s top musical export, Abba. In ‘The Book of Abba: Melancholy Undercover’, Gradvall explores the love, heartbreak and connections between each member of the pop group, from Eurovision to beyond. He sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss his journalistic career, his former role as head of the Swedish Music Hall of Fame and the possibility of the pop group coming back again.
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We look at conspiracy theories that have emerged through US politics with Gabriel Gatehouse, author of ‘The Coming Storm’. The podcaster and former international editor of the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his career so far, his thoughts about the two major presidential candidates and the underbelly of the internet, which is host to fringe forums such as 4chan and QAnon.
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Writing a fourth memoir is somewhat unheard of but for Peter Godwin it’s an even more personal note. Not a grief memoir so much as an exploration in memory of the passing of his mother, the end of his marriage and moving on, Peter shares the poignant moments of his life so far in ‘Exit Wounds’. He joins Georgina Godwin – his sibling – to discuss childhood memories of their mother, the process of his latest work and writing multiple autobiographies of his life so far.
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Known as the “Queensland Expert” for ‘The Telegraph’, Lee Mylne’s journalism is enjoyed around the world thanks to her expertise in travel and tourism. As a writer of many travel books including ‘Explore Australia’ and ‘Frommer’s Portable Australia’s Great Barrier Reef’, she shares the vast knowledge which has gained her many national awards. She joins Georgina Godwin in Brisbane, Australia, to discuss her career so far, where travel writing sits within journalism and her dream locations to cover.
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Multi-prize winner Evie Wyld is no stranger to writing intricate, thought-provoking novels to challenge readers globally. Her latest novel, “The Echoes”, proves that. It’s a story about an everyday couple living in London but embedded within secrecy, with one looking on from the afterlife. Evie joins Georgina Godwin to discuss her work, her upbringing from New South Wales, Australia, to Peckham, South London, and running her own independent bookshop, Review.
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The resurgence of the Taliban in August 2021 sent shockwaves throughout the world. Images from Afghanistan showed fear, panic and unrest looming. With the country back under Taliban rule, a group of Afghan women writers feared the worst. They kept in touch with the Untold Narratives, a development programme dedicated to writers from marginalised communities or conflict zones. It was a group of messages from these writers detailing their lives that the collective curated into a diary ‘My Dear Kabul’. Georgina Godwin speaks to the director, Lucy Hannah, and co-editor, Sunila Galappatti, about the process of recording the diary entries. We’ll also hear from one writer about life in Kabul today.
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One of the UK’s greatest historians, William Dalrymple is no stranger to researching the treasures of India. Dalrymple sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss his latest work, “The Golden Road”, which outlines ancient Indian cultures, ideas and inventions and how they influenced the western world.
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Richard Williams, one of the most revered animators in modern times, leaves a lasting creative impression from ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ to ‘The Pink Panther’. ‘Adventures in Animation: How I Learned Who I Learned From and What I Did with It’ follows the life and career of Williams in animated features; from the moment when, aged five, he saw ‘Snow White’, and through his career of more than sixty years.
Following his passing, his wife and collaborator, Imogen Sutton, completed ‘Adventures in Animation’, which in its finished publication is an ode to animated art and to Richard himself.
Speaking to Georgina Godwin, Sutton shares insights into their work dynamic, Richard’s relationships with Art Babbitt and Ken Harris, plus his influences across the industry.
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As the author of six critically acclaimed novels, including the 2022 PEN/Faulkner award winning ‘The Wrong End of the Telescope’, Rabih Alameddine is no stranger to the living art of storytelling. His work explores worlds that may seem beyond words, everything from civil war to exile and epidemics, and yet finds the words we need to hear. Now teaching literature at Georgetown University, Alameddine delves into the next generation of writers. He speaks with Georgina Godwin on his writing career, his upbringing and future plans for his art.
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Literary editor of ‘The Spectator’ Sam Leith is surrounded by books of various genres every day. His latest non-fiction work ‘The Haunted Wood’ takes an exploratory look into childhood reading from Aesop’s fables to Malorie Blackman. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about the world of children’s literature, the first book he read as a child and the authors who created the stories we know today.
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Magda Szubanski is known as Sharon Strzelecki in the comedy series ‘Kath and Kim’ in Australia and globally for the role of Esme Hoggett in the ‘Babe’ film series. The comedy actress won the 2016 Douglas Stewart Prize for her memoir, ‘Reckoning’, which describes her journey of self-discovery from a suburban childhood that was haunted by the demons of her father’s espionage activities in wartime Poland. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her career so far, the creative scene in Melbourne and her future writing plans.
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Life for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is often stalked by violence, heightened by the events following 7 October. When US journalist Nathan Thrall decided to write about their experience, he wanted to unveil the sheer catastrophe that they live through daily. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book, ‘A Day in the Life of Abed Salama’, focuses on Abed whose son died in a bus crash in 2012, and the other individuals linked to the tragedy. Speaking to Georgina Godwin, Thrall shares the relationships he has with Salama and others, the reaction to their story and the Israel-Hamas war.
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Novuyo Rosa Tshuma is a Zimbabwe-born writer who spent her time writing instead of studying at university during one of the most turbulent times in the country’s history. She talks to Georgina Godwin about her childhood, the start of her writing career and her latest novel, “Digging Stars”, which probes the emotional universes of love, friendship, family and nationhood.
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Best-selling author Elif Shafak is the most widely read female author in Turkey and her work has been translated into a staggering 57 languages. Her 2019 novel ‘10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World’ was nominated for the Booker Prize and her novels have been shortlisted in the Costa Award, the British Book Awards and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Shafak returns to Midori House to speak to Georgina Godwin about her new novel, ‘There are Rivers in the Sky’, a timeless story that follows three lives spanning centuries, continents and two great rivers connected through a single drop of water.
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The Australian politician who popularised koalas in the 1980s and created the “throw another shrimp on the barbie” tourism ad joins Georgina Godwin in Sydney to talk about his new book, ‘Brownie: The Minister for Good Times’. John Brown, the first in his family to achieve school qualifications, went on to serve as an MP in the Federal House of Representatives for 13 years, and held several ministerial posts in the Hawke government where he transformed the face of tourism and sport in Australia.
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For years, author and satirist Gabby Hutchinson Crouch has scoured the week’s news for material to use on the programmes in BBC Radio 4’s Friday-night topical slot, ‘Dead Ringers’ and ‘Newzoids’. She has also written for ‘Horrible Histories’, the Bafta-winning children’s series inspired by ‘Blackadder’ and ‘Monty Python’. Today she discusses her latest book, the first in a new ‘historical romantasy’ series, and is quizzed by a ‘Horrible Histories’ enthusiast.
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In Microsoft’s pioneering AI For Good Lab, data scientists and researchers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) is helping to tackle disinformation, predict wildfires, track whales and even detect leprosy in vulnerable populations. But what are the dangers in AI being used for bad? Chief Scientist and Lab Director Juan M Lavista Ferres has co-authored the book ‘AI for Good’, which explores the measurable effect, potential and limitations of AI’s application in addressing global challenges in health, climate change and human rights, explored in this in-depth conversation.
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Ever wondered what David Bowie liked to eat for dinner, or how the members of Queen wrote and rehearsed their famous “Galileos”? Tiffany Murray’s new memoir invites us into the lives of 1970s rock nobility. Set at two recording studios, including the legendary Rockfield Studios where she was raised, her mother Joan was a chef for the likes of Black Sabbath and Motörhead. Georgina Godwin speaks to the author about Freddie Mercury’s love for the family’s great dane, her first encounter with drugs and vengeful neighbouring farmers in this enchanting account of the rural recording studio.
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The twentieth-century author Christopher Isherwood, made famous by his 1930s work in Berlin, approached his writing about queerness, politics and religion with frankness and wit. The writer repeatedly fictionalised himself and his friends in his novels. Katherine Bucknell, the editor of four volumes of Isherwood’s diaries and letters, explains that it was his mother’s own diaries that first introduce us to the character of Isherwood. Using a wealth of unpublished material, Bucknell reveals the drama and complexity of the author’s inner world in an epic new biography.
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The 2024 UK general election is just days away. Speaking to Georgina Godwin is an expert on many aspects of UK government and politics, in particular, the support systems to ministers and prime ministers. Alun Evans CBE, a civil servant for more than three decades, lifts the lid on what’s happening behind the door of 10 Downing Street during important transitions in politics through his new book, ‘The Intimacy of Power: An insight into private office, Whitehall’s most sensitive network’.
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Today’s guest is perhaps the only playwright and novelist to have been an international athlete, teacher of those on death row at San Quentin prison in California and a tree surgeon – and he only began writing in his thirties. He won the inaugural Harold Pinter Playwright’s Award for ‘If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep’ at the Royal Court and his play ‘Lampedusa’ has been performed in 40 countries. His debut novel is ‘Three Burials’, a satire on the refugee crisis.
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Taking home this year’s prize is US writer and journalist V V Ganeshananthan for her second novel, ‘Brotherless Night’, which took her almost two decades to complete. Her debut novel, ‘Love Marriage’, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize in 2009. ‘Brotherless Night’ is the story of Sashi, a 16-year-old aspiring doctor, growing up in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, in the 1980s. The novel vividly and compassionately centres erased and marginalised stories – Tamil women, students, teachers, ordinary civilians – exploring the moral nuances of violence and terrorism against a backdrop of oppression and exile.
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The Berlin-based author and playwright was born in the then-USSR and emigrated to Germany in 1995. ‘Glorious People’, their second novel, now translated into English, was longlisted for the German Book Prize and won several others. Salzmann has since been awarded the prestigious Kleist Prize for 2024, the biggest prize for literature in Germany.
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The British-Cambodian writer and editor initially wrote ‘The Ministry of Time’ – her gripping sci-fi rom-com debut – as a joke for a handful of friends. The genre-bending thriller, which explores themes including immigration and environmentalism, became an instant bestseller. Even before the novel landed on bookshelves last month, the BBC beat Netflix in a bidding war to turn the book into a TV drama. Kaliane Bradley tells Georgina Godwin about the obligation she felt to write a “serious” book about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge, her work at Penguin Classics as an editor, and how her funny and fantastical debut came about.
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Announced this week is the winner of the International Booker Prize 2024. The recipient of this year’s award is ‘Kairos’ by German writer Jenny Erpenbeck and translated by Michael Hoffman, who each take home half of the £50,000 prize money. Host Georgina Godwin speaks to the winning duo and the administrator of the prize, Fiammetta Rocco, who lifts the lid on the selection process. We also talk to Granta’s Sigrid Rausing, who reveals who is buying translated literature and what sells best.
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Award-winning Scottish author and editor at large at the ‘London Review of Books’, Andrew O’Hagan has spent the past decade working on his state-of-the-nation novel, ‘Caledonian Road’. Employing the traditions of Victorian writing, his research took him to the homes of Russian oligarchs, the Old Bailey and even a ship from Venice to Trieste. Here, O’Hagan talks about how libraries “saved” him, ghostwriting Julian Assange’s autobiography and his brief brushes with royalty.
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‘For me, beauty and disgust don’t really exist in binary.’ AK Blakemore’s discovery of tales of The Great Tarare, a French showman with an insatiable appetite, was the perfect setting for her to explore her love of the grotesque and abject. Shortlisted for this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize, her novel ‘The Glutton’ explores the almost folkloric life of the soldier-turned-street performer, as he tours around France eating everything from nails and stones to snakes and puppies. Blakemore also talks about her childhood living on the 24th floor of a tower block in southeast London, experiencing visual and auditory hallucinations, and the symbolic power of food in literature.
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“We left Iraq as Jews, and we arrived in Israel as Iraqis.” Acclaimed historian Avi Shlaim is a man with a complicated backstory as an Arab Jew. He has a very clear-eyed view of events leading up to the current crisis in the Middle East. He traces the origins of the conflict to antisemitism in the UK after the First World War and even to the Jews of Babylon 2,500 years ago. Shlaim tells us why he believes that accusations of antisemitism and anti-Zionism are being used to silence the critique of Israel’s practices, and why he considers Marilyn Monroe a “profound thinker”.
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In 1868 writer John William DeForest introduced the idea of the ‘great American novel’ – a work that succeeded in ‘the task of painting the American soul’. Now, the editors of ‘The Atlantic’ have published a list that offers a wider, deeper and weirder take on the idea. Author and senior editor Gal Beckerman talks us through the 136 books chosen by the magazine. He tells us about the fascinating selection process and how ‘The Atlantic’ is returning to its founding principles and defending democratic values.
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“Education for girls is the family business”, says Sudanese-British broadcast journalist Zeinab Badawi. She tells us about her family, career and what it’s like to interview the world’s most notable politicians on ‘BBC Hard Talk’. Badawi explains how her groundbreaking TV series, ‘The History of Africa’, for which she visited 34 African countries over seven years, led her to write her debut book ‘An African History of Africa’.
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The Melbourne-based author talks about how his life has changed since his multi-award-winning 2008 novel ‘The Slap’ made him one of Australia’s most celebrated writers. Born to immigrant Greek parents, his writing confronts themes ranging from social and cultural tensions in modern Australia to faith, sexuality, class, race and the blights of communism in practice. His latest novel, ‘The In-Between’ is a tender exploration of love between two middle-aged gay men.
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Is the near-universal game of “cowboys and Indians” just positive propaganda for genocide? When a Vietnamese-American watches ‘Apocalypse Now’, does he identify with the victim or perpetrator? As the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s book ‘The Sympathizer’ comes to HBO, we explore these themes and discuss his triumphant new memoir, ‘A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial’.
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Author Tom Baragwanath hails from New Zealand and lives in France. He grew up in the remote farming community of Wainuioru, separated from Wellington by the Rimutaka mountain range. While working for the government on Māori land policy in his mid-twenties, he began reading extensively and writing short stories. After relocating to Paris with his wife, he embarked upon an MA in creative writing. His literary crime debut, ‘Paper Cage’, won the 2021 Michael Gifkins Prize. Set in his hometown, the book blends mystery and social critique as local children start to go missing.
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Nairobi-based nonprofit Book Bunk, the brainchild of Wanjiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka, restores existing public libraries and installs new libraries in public spaces. Its flagship project in the Kenyan capital is the McMillan Memorial Library, which opened in 1931 but it was segregated only for the use of white people until 1962. Book Bunk’s founders imagine that the almost 50,000 public libraries in Kenya can be steered to become more than just repositories, acting as sites of knowledge production, shared experiences, cultural leadership and information exchange; they see them as sites of heritage, public art and memory.
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UK author and journalist Helen Russell left her job in London as editor of Marie Clare and relocated to Jutland, Denmark, with her husband in 2013. What initially set out to be a year-long trip quickly turned into a decade. Her freelance career had seen her work as Scandinavia correspondent for ‘The Guardian’, write for publications such as ‘The Observer’, ‘Stylist’ and ‘Grazia’, and publish six books including ‘The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country’, which became an international bestseller and was translated into 21 languages. Her latest book, ‘How to Raise a Viking’ uncovers the secrets to parenting the world’s happiest children.
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US cartoonist and illustrator, Denise Dorrance’s sharp, satirical work appears regularly in magazines and newspapers such as the ‘The Spectator’ and ‘The Sunday Times’. Her debut graphic novel, ‘Polar Vortex’, has been celebrated by the likes of Oprah Winfrey. She is best known for her character Mimi, a self-involved fashionista in dark sunglasses, typically drawn with a glass of wine in one hand and an unnamed infant in the other, which ran as a weekly cartoon in ‘The Mail on Sunday’. In this interview she opens up about what led her to write her autobiographical illustrated story, how she engages with genre and how she adapted her artistic process to develop her poignant story of grief and mortality in her hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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Jane Cholmeley co-founded and opened the feminist Silver Moon Bookshop in London during the Thatcher era to promote the work of female authors. It quickly came to play a vital role in the second-wave feminist movement. Operating in a male-dominated space, the stop was often subject to threats of arson but maintained a safe space for customers, with community activism at its core. The bookshop frequently hosted writers such as Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and Margaret Attwood. Cholmeley has recorded the cop’s 17-year history in her new book ‘A Bookshop of One’s Own.’
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It was the end of a relationship in London that led Tabitha Lasley to pack her bags, leave her journalism job and move to Aberdeen, Scotland, to pursue a story that she’d been sitting on for years. She grew up on the Wirral in northwest England, a place frequented by the men who worked on oil rigs in the Irish Sea. She initially set out to write an objective view of life on the rig but an encounter with one oil-rig worker in the North Sea set her on a different path. ‘Sea State’ is a captivating memoir that chronicles both her own breakdown and the breakdown of a way of life for the men working in the industry.
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American novelist and screenwriter Michael Cunningham is best known for his 1998 novel ‘The Hours’, which became a ‘New York Times’ bestseller and won both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize. His work has appeared in ‘The New Yorker’ and ‘The Best American Short Stories’, and he has worked as a creative writing lecturer at Yale University for the past 16 years. At the heart of his novels and short stories is a preoccupation with the human condition, whether through the intense experiences of love, loss or heartbreak. ‘Day’, his first novel in almost a decade, explores such themes through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic.
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In 2020, Alice Haddon and Ruth Field came together to develop an alternative offering to the traditional 50-minute therapy session, which became a wellness retreat designed for women known as The Heartbreak Hotel. Alice is a licensed counselling psychologist with more than 25 years of experience in private and public practice. Her writing has been featured in ‘The Times’, ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ and HuffPost. Ruth is a former criminal barrister who began life-coaching and has written multiple self-help books. Now, in 2024, they have used their expertise from decades of writing and helping others to co-author a non-fiction work inspired by their real life retreat. ‘Finding Your Self at the Heartbreak Hotel’ provides readers with therapeutic tools to help find confidence and overcome rumination.
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After his mother was killed by a car bomb in 2017, Paul Caruana Galizia became a journalist and has since won several honours and awards for his reporting, including the Orwell Prize special award. The assassination of his mother Daphne Caruana Galizia – a Maltese journalist and anti-corruption activist best known for her investigation of the Panama Papers – and subsequent investigation, is the subject of his book ‘A Death in Malta: An assassination and family’s quest for justice.’
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UK screenwriter, TV producer and novelist, Daisy Goodwin has written the bestsellers ‘My Last Duchess’, ‘The Fortune Hunter’ and ‘Victoria’, as well as eight poetry anthologies, including ‘101 Poems That Could Save Your Life: An Anthology of Emotional First Aid’. During her 25 years working as a TV producer, she created and produced shows such as ‘Grand Designs’ and ‘Escape to the Country’. Her latest book, ‘Diva’, is based on the life of legendary opera singer Maria Callas.
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US journalist, novelist, translator and professor Maureen Freely joins Georgina Godwin in the studio. She is best known as the translator of Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk’s work. Freely has also written ‘The Life of the Party’, set in Turkey, and ‘The Other Rebecca’, a contemporary take on Daphne du Maurier’s classic 1930s novel. Her latest book, ‘My Blue Peninsula’, is set in Istanbul, where she spent her childhood.
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American researcher, scholar, writer and poet Cat Bohannon speaks to Georgina Godwin about her debut book, ‘Eve’, a whistle-stop tour of mammalian development that begins in the Jurassic Era and recasts the traditional story of evolutionary biology by placing women at its centre. She completed her PhD in 2022 at Columbia University, where she studied the evolution of narrative and cognition and once worked as an unofficial poet in residence for Gunther von Hagens, the inventor of plastination, in Dalian, China.
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To welcome in the new year, we look back at one of our favourite conversations from 2023, with Lydia Sandgren. The Swedish psychologist and author spent 10 years writing her debut novel, which won the prestigious August Prize in 2020 and sold more than 100,000 copies. She joins Georgina Godwin to mark the publication in English of ‘Collected Works’, an epic family drama about a man dealing with the tragic aftermath of his wife’s disappearance a decade ago.
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We listen back to one of our favourite conversations from 2023. Calder Walton, a historian of global security, speaks to Georgina Godwin about what secret archives and interviews with former agents can tell us about the century-long secret intelligence war between Russia and the West.
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English novelist and screenwriter Louise Doughty joins Georgina Godwin in the studio. Doughty is the author of 10 novels, including ‘Platform Seven’, recently filmed for ITV, and the bestseller ‘Apple Tree Yard’, adapted for BBC One. She also wrote and created the hit 2022 BBC drama ‘Crossfire’. Her latest novel, ‘A Bird in Winter’, was published earlier this year.
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Georgina Godwin is joined by two authors who are both on a quest to find new ways to listen – and they invite you to do the same. Dutch-born writer Michel Faber has written several works of fiction including ‘The Crimson Petal and the White’. His first non-fiction book, ‘Listen: On Music, Sound and Us’ explores how psychological pressure influences musical taste. Author and science journalist Caspar Henderson’s ‘A Book of Noises: Notes on the Auraculous’, shows us how we can become re-enchanted by the sounds around us, from the everyday to the celestial.
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One of India’s best-known writers, Amish Tripathi, speaks to Georgina Godwin at Midori House. The author spent 14 years in the financial sector as a marketing and product manager but changed his direction to realign with his passion for writing, winning multiple awards for his books, largely based on Indian spirituality. He is also the director of Nehru Centre, an Indian cultural institution in London.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to Paul Lynch, the author of ‘Prophet Song’, winner of this year’s Booker Prize. Limerick-born Lynch is the fifth Irish writer to win the award, given to the best English-language novel of the year published in either the UK or Ireland. His fifth novel, written over four years, is set in an imagined dystopian Ireland. It depicts a country sliding further into authoritarian rule and follows one woman’s attempts to save her family. The author talks about his career as a journalist and film critic, writing through a period of immense personal upheaval and asking “who is Paul Lynch?”
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British director, animator and author Kevin Jon Davies speaks to Georgina Godwin. With a career that has included writing and directing the documentary ‘Doctor Who: Thirty Years in the Tardis’ and working on animation for the TV adaptation of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ and the classic film ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, Davies has now edited a book. The Sunday Times number one bestseller ‘42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams’ collates the genius of his late friend and collaborator through previously unseen archival material.
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Joining Georgina Godwin in today’s episode is American author Sandra Newman, whose sixth novel, ‘Julia’, offers a bold feminist reinterpretation of George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’. The book expands upon the protagonist Winston Smith’s narrative to unveil and explore the experiences of women in Oceania. Born in Boston, Newman has lived in many countries, including Germany, Russia, Malaysia and England, and her professions have ranged from academia to professional gambling. She speaks about her experiences prior to her debut novel, which was published in 2002 to critical acclaim, and how it changed the trajectory of her life.
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Georgina Godwin sits down with the six authors shortlisted for The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2023: Hannah Barnes, Tania Branigan, Christopher Clark, Jeremy Eichler, Jennifer Homans and John Vaillant. From Branigan’s new look into China’s Cultural Revolution, told through the personal stories of those who lived through it, to Vaillant’s deep dive into the relationship between oil history and climate science, this year’s shortlist presents a variety of bold, original and thought-provoking works.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to one of the most successful crime-fiction novelists in the UK, Ian Rankin. He is the internationally best-selling author of more than 40 books, including the Inspector Rebus novels, which have been translated into more than 20 languages. He is the recipient of the Edgar Award, four CWA Dagger Awards and last year won the British Book Award for best crime and thriller book. He discusses his new Amazon Originals project, a standalone short thriller set in London’s most exclusive high-rise – a pacy story perfect for your morning commute.
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Award-winning British journalist Ros Atkins joins Georgina Godwin in today’s episode. He is analysis editor and presenter of Outside Source at the BBC but started out at as a news producer on BBC Radio Five Live more than twenty years ago. Ros talks about his book ‘The Art of Explanation: How to Communicate with Clarity and Confidence’. He also takes us back to his Cornish roots, as well as his stint at ‘The Sunday Independent’ in South Africa, and reveals how learning a musical instrument and DJing influenced his ideas on what makes for successful communication.
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Georgina Godwin interviews former editor in chief of Bloomsbury Publishing, Alexandra Pringle, who held the post for twenty years. Her list of authors includes William Boyd, Margaret Atwood, Richard Ford, Khaled Hosseini and Kamila Shamsie. She joined Virago Press in 1978 and helped to launch their Modern Classics series, which championed out-of-print books by forgotten female authors. She speaks to Georgina about her early failures, trusting your editorial gut and her latest venture, Silk Road Slippers.
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In today’s episode, award-winning American author of fiction, memoir and poetry Henry Hoke speaks to Georgina Godwin about his fifth book, ‘Open Throat’. It follows a queer mountain lion, desperate for food and struggling to survive in drought-stricken Los Angeles, who takes us on a tour of the city’s cruel inequalities. Hoke is also the co-creator of Enter>text, a series of large-scale immersive literary events, and an editor at literary magazine ‘The Offing’. In this conversation, the writer talks about writing and responding to 9/11, his unusual encounter with Bill Murray, and why his work continues to defy genre.
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Journalist, author and broadcaster Polly Toynbee, joins Georgina Godwin on the show this week. She is a Guardian columnist and previously worked as social affairs editor for the BBC, as well as ‘The Independent’. Early on in her career, she spent eight months experiencing manual work ‘undercover’ with stints as a nurse and Army recruit, which she details in her first book ‘A Working Life’, published in 1970. She has won numerous awards, including the Orwell Prize, for her impressive body of work on social affairs, continuing a family tradition of attempting to eradicate class divides in Britain. Her new book, ‘An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Other Radicals’ charts how her ancestors grappled with this and looks further into how the issue is being dealt with today.
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Georgina Godwin sits down with bestselling author, journalist and documentary-maker Thomas Harding. They discuss his new book, ‘The Maverick: George Weidenfeld and the Golden Age of Publishing’, which tells the story of the legendary publisher after moving to London just before the Second World War as a penniless Austrian-Jewish refugee, Weidenfeld went on to become a world-famous literary figure, publishings works such as ‘Lolita’ and ‘Double Helix’ and championing writers like Joan Didion, Henry Miller and JD Salinger.
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British author Neil Blackmore’s third novel, ‘The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle’, was shortlisted for the Polari Prize for LGBT+ fiction, while his 2021 novel, ‘The Dangerous Kingdom of Love’, was included in ‘The Times’ list of the best historical fiction. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about ‘Radical Love’, published earlier this year, and attitudes to sexual identity and morality in Regency England. He also talks about his unexpected popularity among German readers, his 20-year hiatus from writing and what it truly means to be radical.
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The award-winning Canadian author, activist and filmmaker Naomi Klein speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World’. Since publishing her debut book, ‘No Logo’, in 1999, she has become one of the world’s foremost public intellectuals, regularly featuring on lists of the most influential people around the globe. In ‘Doppelganger’, she confronts her own double – a woman who shares her name but has radically different views – while considering the instability of identity and what it’s like to be freed from her own paranoia about brand and public image. For Klein, the doppelganger is a “narrow aperture” through which everything, from conspiracy theories and anti-vaxxers to projected doubling and the double-consciousness of minority communities, can be examined.
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This week, Georgina Godwin meets bestselling British novelist Lisa Jewell. The Londoner started out working in the pattern room at fashion chain Warehouse but, after taking creative-writing classes, she realised that she wanted to be an author. It was a bet with a friend while on holiday in Malta that pushed her to write the first three chapters of her novel ‘Ralph’s Party’. A quarter of a century later, her books have sold 10 million copies and have been translated into 29 languages. She tells us about how ending a coercive marriage in her twenties gave her new clarity, why she loves writing about teenagers and what it’s like to be one of the key names at a publishing company. She also introduces us to her latest psychological thriller, ‘None of This Is True’, in which a podcaster becomes the subject of her own true-crime show.
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Belgian-American pilot, author and writer, Mark Vanhoenacker, joins Georgina Godwin at Monocle’s studio in London to discuss his third book ‘Imagine a City: a Pilot’s Love Letter to the World’s Greatest Cities’. The book chronicles his journey from dreaming of glittering metropolises as a child in Massachusetts to exploring the world as a pilot. Vanhoenacker discusses everything from his love for language learning, his affinity for Japanese culture and his lengthy aviation career.
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The French novelist, screenwriter, journalist and director Antoine Laurain joins Georgina Godwin at Monocle’s London studios to discuss his tenth novel, ‘An Astronomer in Love’. He takes inspiration from the true story of Louis XV’s astronomer and combines it with a beautiful, modern Parisian love story. Laurain also talks about how his work in the antiques business inspired his first book, ‘The Portrait’, as well as the distinctive character of the French publishing industry and what it’s like to meet bookish British royalty.
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Sitting down with Georgina Godwin this week is the hugely acclaimed novelist, short-story writer and critic Amanda Craig. She returns to the show with her latest novel, ‘The Three Graces’. Set in contemporary Tuscany, the book examines the current state of Europe and explores difficult themes such as migration, racial discrimination and ageing. Craig opens up about her first experience of being published, navigating the “chick lit” genre and how Victorian literature inspired the array of more than 100 characters who appear – and often reappear – in her books.
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Georgina is joined by Calder Walton, a historian of intelligence and global security at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He is a world-leading expert in intelligence history, great-power conflict, espionage and grand strategy. He also regularly contributes to the ‘BBC’, ‘Foreign Policy’ and ‘The Washington Post’. His new book ‘Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West’, builds on secret archives and exclusive interviews with former agents to tell the story of the century-long secret war between Russia and the West.
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Joining Georgina Godwin in the studio this week is author and playwright Damian Lanigan. In his latest book, ‘The Ghost Variations’, protagonist Declan Byrnie’s career as a sought-after concert pianist is brought to a halt when tragedy strikes. Despite Lanigan having never played an instrument, he beautifully translates music to the page and the complexities of the piano as both a barrier and conduit to exploring feelings of love and grief.
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Andrew Boyd, the American writer, activist and CEO – or “Chief Existential Officer” of the Climate Clock – joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his new book ‘I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief, Hope and Gallows Humor’. Described by Brian Eno as “a new and genuinely exciting kind of realism”, it acts as a manual for processing existential questions posed by climate change. Though it might be too late to the planet to stay under 1.5C global warming, Boyd argues that it’s never too late to care.
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Shashi Tharoor is a bestselling author, politician, public intellectual and former diplomat. This week he joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his new book ‘BR Ambedkar: The Man Who Gave Hope to India’s Dispossessed’ and his long career in public service.
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This week on Meet the Writers, actress, author, and gender advisor for the United Nations, Catherine Joy White, sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her new book ‘This Thread of Gold: a Celebration of Black Womanhood’.
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Paul Burston is an acclaimed Welsh writer, journalist, documentarian and activist. He has dedicated his career to creating and promoting LGBTQ+ stories, both in his own work and by lifting up other artists. He joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his new memoir, ‘We Can Be Heroes: A Survivor’s Story’.
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Tom Rachman is a bestselling English-Canadian novelist. After a successful career as a journalist and a foreign correspondent, he published his debut novel in 2010 to wide acclaim. This week Rachman joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his new book, ‘The Imposters’ – a darkly funny story about a failed writer trying to finish her final book during the pandemic.
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Farah Karim-Cooper is Globe professor of Shakespeare studies at King’s College London. She is also the co-director of education at Shakespeare’s Globe as well as an executive board member of RaceB4Race, a collective of scholars and institutions that seek racial justice in the field of pre-modern literary studies. Georgina Godwin sits down with Farah to discuss her third and most recent book, ‘The Great White Bard: Shakespeare, Race and the Future’.
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Award-winning British-Sri Lankan novelist, filmmaker and journalist Guy Gunaratne joins Georgina Godwin to discuss their second book, ‘Mister, Mister’, a devastating story about a young British man who finds himself in a British detention centre after fleeing the war in Syria.
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Acclaimed British author and creative-writing teacher Tim Lott has published 10 novels and a memoir, ‘The Scent of Dried Roses’, which won the Pen Ackerley Prize for autobiography and is a Penguin Modern Classic. His latest book is ‘Yes! No! But Wait…!: The One Thing You Need to Know to Write a Novel’. He joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his new work and the state of the creative-writing industry today.
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Born in Cornwall in the southwest corner of England, award-winning author, travel writer and academic Tim Hannigan joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his latest book, ‘The Granite Kingdom’, a probing and lyrical account of an east-west walk across the region where he was raised.
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London-based critic and writer Amber Husain speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Meat Love’, which explores the relationship between capitalist desire and our hunger for meat.
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An associate professor of English and comparative literature at Kuwait University, Mai Al-Nakib’s work has explored gender, cosmopolitanism and postcolonial issues and inspired her writing. Her intimate debut novel, ‘An Unlasting Home’, traces Kuwait’s transformation from a pearl-diving backwater to a thriving cosmopolitan state in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to the editor and art director of independent literary magazine ‘Friends on the Shelf’. Inspired by the art of conversation and a belief that we all take pleasure in hearing about each other’s lives, the magazine aims to showcase true stories from ordinary voices.
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This week, Georgina Godwin is joined by Chicago-based author Toya Wolfe to discuss her debut novel, ‘Last Summer on State Street’, an intimate portrait of family relationships and female friendship.
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Octavia Bright is a writer, broadcaster and co-host of popular podcast and NTS Radio show ‘Literary Friction’. Her writing has been featured in publications such as ‘Elle’, ‘The White Review’, ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ and ‘The Sunday Times’. She joins Georgina Godwin to talk about her new work, ‘This Ragged Grace: A Memoir of Recovery & Renewal’.
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The vice-president and executive editor at the publishing house Knopf has worked with renowned authors such as Emily St John Mandel and Kevin Kwan. Now her debut novel, ‘Pineapple Street’, a warm and witty examination of American high society, is a New York Times bestseller. She tells Georgina Godwin about publishing buzzwords, the role of an editor and the time she was fired from a deli job for reading behind the counter.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to journalist and former science writer Michael Bond about his latest book, ‘Fans: A Journey into the Psychology of Belonging’. It takes a fascinating look at the history of fandom and how we let ourselves be inspired by our heroes.
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The British journalist and political commentator on his early role at ‘Erotic Review’, how media is funded and why the British political system is broken. Ian’s latest book, ‘How Westminster Works …And Why It Doesn’t’, features a searing look at UK politics as well as a set of solutions.
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Kieran Yates is a London-based journalist, editor and broadcaster who has written for publications including ‘The Guardian’ and Vice, covering culture, technology and politics. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her new book, ‘All the Houses I’ve Ever Lived In’. It is an engaging coming-of-age story that shines a light on the UK’s housing crisis.
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The violinist-turned-historical novelist sits down with Georgina Godwin. Her newest book, ‘Madwoman’, is a historical reimagination of American journalist Nellie Bly, whose extraordinary undercover work helped to uncover the horrors of one of New York’s most notorious asylums.
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Leon Craig is a Berlin-based, British-born writer whose work has been published in ‘The Times Literary Supplement’, ‘The White Review’ and more. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her debut short-story collection, ‘Parallel Hells’ – an anthology drawing on gothic horror and folklore that explores love, power and identity.
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The acclaimed Vietnamese author joins Georgina Godwin to discuss growing up in post-war Vietnam, where the country is today and her latest novel, ‘Dust Child’, about four individuals linked forever by decisions made during conflict.
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Albert Read is the managing director of Condé Nast Britain where he oversees titles such as British Vogue, GQ, Tatler, Vanity Fair, Wired and Condé Nast Travellers. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book ‘The Imagination Muscle’ which examines the history of ideas and the ways to tap into your own imagination in your day to day life.
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Emmy- and Bafta-winning playwright and screenwriter Abi Morgan is best known for films such as ‘The Iron Lady’ and ‘Suffragette’. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her first book, ‘This Is Not a Pity Memoir’, which tells the story of how what began as an ordinary weekday changed her and her family’s lives forever.
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Poet Rishi Dastidar joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his latest collection, ‘Neptune’s Projects’, a comedic reshaping of mythology that looks at the climate crisis from the point of view of the god Neptune.
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Born in Equatorial Guinea, Monica Macias grew up in Pyongyang, North Korea, under the guardianship of the communist country’s then-leader Kim Il Sung. Kim was a close friend of her father, who later became the dictator president of a newly independent Equatorial Guinea. ‘Black Girl from Pyongyang’ is Monica’s remarkable memoir about identity, versions of the truth and finding meaning in the places that we call home.
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Mark Hollingsworth is an investigative journalist, historian, and author of 10 books, including ‘Londongrad: From Russia With Cash: The Inside Story of the Oligarchs’. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book, ‘Agents of Influence’, a journalistic window into Russia’s political warfare and its long history of espionage and disinformation.
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The Swedish psychologist and author spent 10 years writing her debut novel, which won the prestigious August Prize in 2020 and sold more than 100,000 copies. She joins Georgina Godwin to mark the publication in English of ‘Collected Works’, an epic family drama about a man dealing with the tragic aftermath of his wife’s disappearance a decade ago.
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Swedish behavioural expert, lecturer and bestselling author Thomas Erikson speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Surrounded by Narcissists: Or, How to Stop Other People’s Egos Ruining Your Life’. The book is an insightful, thought-provoking guide to pursuing a more fulfilling life.
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Adam Gopnik is best known for his savvy pieces published in ‘The New Yorker’ but the essayist is a true multi-hyphenate. An author, lyricist and lecturer, you might say Gopnik has mastered the art of literature. His latest book, ‘The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery’, questions the fundamentals of learning and mastering an outlandish skill.
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Georgina Godwin speaks to poet and essayist Amy Key about her new book ‘Arrangements in Blue: Notes on Love and Making a Life’. This beautiful and vulnerable memoir inspired by Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album ‘Blue’ looks at the different ways in which an absence of romantic love shapes a life.
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The award-winning UK author tells Georgina Godwin about a childhood family road trip through south Asia, the US and Australia, working in a tea factory and her new book ‘Humanly Possible: 700 years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope’.
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JM Varese is a US novelist and literary historian. He sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss his new gothic thriller, ‘The Company’, which is based on the true story of arsenic-laced wallpaper.
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Gary Younge is an author, an academic and one of the UK’s most celebrated journalists. He joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his remarkable career in international reporting, his teenage years as a Trotskyist, reporting on the elections of Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, and his new book, ‘Dispatches from the Diaspora: From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and Jessica J Lee, the editors of a heart-warming anthology of essays about our relationships with dogs, ‘Dog Hearted: Essays on our Fierce and Familiar Companions’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Welsh novelist’s debut, ‘The Water Cure’, a feminist dystopia, received critical acclaim and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Sophie sat down with Georgina Godwin to discuss how speaking Welsh has influenced her writing, writing her first stories as a child on her grandad’s computer and her latest novel ‘Cursed Bread’, a darkly sexual story about power and desire.
Award-winning Iranian-American writer Dina Nayeri’s ‘The Ungrateful Refugee’ was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She joins Georgina Godwin to discuss her new book, ‘Who Gets Believed’, which looks at what constitutes believability in our society.
Some readers are convinced that this internationally bestselling author has worked as a spy for a British intelligence agency. In fact, her previous work in counterterrorism is where her fascination with espionage began. Ava Glass is a pseudonym for crime writer Christi Daugherty who sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her interactions with spies, her clever disguises and ‘The Chase’, the first instalment of her pacy new thriller series.
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad became a journalist after the US invaded his home country, Iraq, in 2003. He has since earned awards for his work including the Orwell Prize and Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, as well as two Emmys. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘A Stranger in Your Own City: Travels in the Middle East’s Long War’.
Celebrated New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton sits down with Georgina Godwin. At 28, she became the winner of the Booker Prize for her acclaimed second novel, ‘The Luminaries’. After 10 years she is back with the action-packed psychological thriller ‘Birnam Wood’, about a guerilla gardening group whose ideals and ideologies are about to be tested.
Julia Hollander is a performer, singing therapist and teacher. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her intriguing new book, ‘Why We Sing’. It is an exploration of the importance of song for our wellbeing, told through stories from Hollander’s life and the latest scientific research.
One of Ukraine’s most acclaimed contemporary authors sits down with Georgina Godwin. Oksana’s debut novel, ‘Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex’, is the most translated work of new Ukrainian prose in the world today – but it caused huge controversy on publication in 1996. Since then she has emerged as a leading literary voice in her country, penning more than 20 books. The latest is ‘My Longest Book Tour’, a personal account of living in exile since the Russian invasion and a historical perspective on the war for a Western audience.
Ann-Helén Laestadius is a Swedish Sami journalist and writer. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Stolen’. It is a thought-provoking novel about a young indigenous woman as she tries to protect her culture from xenophobia and defend her family’s reindeer herd from devious hunters and the growing threat of climate crisis.
The Irish journalist and photographer has documented migration, conflict and humanitarian crises across the Middle East, Africa and Europe. Her debut book, ‘My Fourth Time, We Drowned’, about the treatment of refugees travelling to Europe, was named Irish Book of the Year in 2022 and won the Orwell Prize. Sally spoke to Georgina Godwin about the failures of NGOs, UN corruption and how her book began with a Facebook message.
Kim Samuel is a renowned educator and activist. She is the founder of the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness as well as a visiting scholar at the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at the University of Oxford. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her new book, ‘On Belonging: Finding Connection in an Isolated World’.
Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ is a multi-award-winning Nigerian author. Her debut novel, ‘Stay With Me’, was published in 2017 to huge critical acclaim and won the 9mobile Prize for Literature as well as the Prix Les Afriques. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her highly anticipated second novel, ‘A Spell of Good Things’. It tells the story of two young Nigerians from vastly different backgrounds who are brought together in catastrophic circumstances.
Georgina Godwin speaks to The Guardian’s foreign leader writer and former China correspondent Tania Branigan about her new book, ‘Red Memory: Living, Remembering and Forgetting China’s Cultural Revolution’.
The Shetland-born writer and TV presenter, best known for BBC documentary series ‘Scotland from the Sky’, speaks to Georgina Godwin. His latest book, ‘The Edge of the Plain: How Borders Make and Break our World’, took him to some of the planet’s most contested and fastest-changing borders, from Israel to Mexico and back home to Scotland.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Los Angeles-based artist and writer Kathryn Scanlan about her brilliant new novel ‘Kick the Latch’. Based on transcribed interviews, it tells the story of one woman’s life on the racetrack.
The award-winning writer from the Scottish Highlands sits down with Georgina Godwin at Cheltenham Literature Festival. They speak about biodiversity, visiting Chernobyl and Flyn’s new book, ‘Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape’, which focuses on the places left behind by humans and reclaimed by nature.
Georgina Godwin speaks to writer Gothataone Moeng about her highly anticipated new collection of short stories ‘Call and Response’. Set between the rural village of Serowe and the capital Gaborone; the book tells stories of ordinary life in contemporary Botswana.
The acclaimed British novelist and playwright speaks to Georgina Godwin about angry women, the suburbs and her latest book ‘Becky’, a modern reimagining of William Thackery’s ‘Vanity Fair’. Its eponymous character is a ferocious young journalist willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead and leave her working-class roots behind.
Marion Turner is the JRR Tolkien Professor of English Literature and Language at the University of Oxford and an authority on Chaucer. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her new book, ‘The Wife of Bath: A Biography’.
The Booker Prize-winning author joined Georgina Godwin at Cheltenham Literature Festival to talk about his new memoir, ‘Mother’s Boy: A Writer’s Beginning’. Howard talks about becoming a writer at 40 and describes how his mother shaped his love of literature, relationship with religion and gift for writing Jewish characters.
Georgina Godwin speaks to neuroscientist Gabija Toleikyte about her latest book, ‘Why the F*ck Can’t I Change?’, which takes us on a journey through the human brain and the science behind change. With simple tips and practical tools, it shows us how to develop good habits and how to make them stick.
The award-winning author and illustrator sits down with Georgina Godwin. They discuss dyslexia, Sally’s early career in theatre and her new novel, The Weather Woman, which touches on topics such as climate change and gender fluidity.
Luke Harding is an award-winning foreign correspondent for ‘The Guardian’. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival’ – the first book of reportage from the front lines of the Ukraine war.
To welcome in the new year, we look back at the people behind the prose that we’ve featured in 2022. In part two of two, we listen back to some of our favourite interviews with authors NoViolet Bulawayo, Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, Waheed Arian and Andrei Kurkov.
To celebrate the festive season we listen back to conversations with the award-winning authors Ruth Ozeki, Katherine Rundell, Percival Everett and the winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, Shehan Karunatilaka.
The musician best known as the frontman of Pulp sat down with Georgina Godwin at Cheltenham Literary Festival.
Georgina Godwin sits down with former British anti-apartheid leader and cabinet minister Peter Hain to discuss his latest novel on the corrupt business of poaching, ‘The Elephant Conspiracy’. It is the sequel to his successful first thriller, ‘The Rhino Conspiracy’.
Georgina Godwin meets US actor, director, comedian and film-maker Paul Feig. He is best known for directing ‘Bridesmaids’, ‘The Heat’ and ‘Ghostbusters’. His latest book is ‘Cocktail Time!: The Ultimate Guide to Grown-Up Fun’. It includes 125 cocktails recipes, each served along with a funny insider story about his Hollywood life and famous friends.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Emily Rhodes, the inventor of Emily’s Walking Book Club. Started in 2012, the book club has monthly meetings where Emily guides other reading enthusiasts on a “walk and talk” across the beautiful landscape of Hampstead Heath in London. They discuss the club and the advantages that come with it, as well as the art of writing a good book review.
Georgina Godwin speaks to the winner of the 2022 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction: celebrated American author Percival Everett. His winning novel ‘The Trees’, which was also shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, is a dark satire about America’s history of racism.
Georgina Godwin speaks to sports journalist and academic Carrie Dunn about her new book ‘Unsuitable for Females’, which tells the story of the Lionesses and the inspiring yet troubled history of women’s football in England.
Georgina Godwin speaks to author and winner of the 2019 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction Nina Stibbe. Her letters to her sisters became her first book ‘Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life’ which was adapted into the television series ‘Love, Nina’ starring Helena Bonham Carter. Her latest book is the feel good novel ‘One Day I Shall Astonish the World’.
Georgina Godwin speaks to journalist and creative-writing tutor Midge Gillies about her latest book, ‘Piccadilly: The Circus at the Heart of London’. It tells the story of the events that have shaped one of London’s most historic sites and the colourful cast of characters that it attracts.
After winning the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2022 for her book ‘Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne’, Katherine Rundell sits down with Georgina Godwin. Raised in Zimbabwe and a fellow of Oxford’s All Souls College, Rundell is known for her award-winning children’s books, as well as the adult essay ‘Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise’. She speaks to Georgina about ‘Super-Infinite’, a vivid biography of one of the world’s greatest writers of love poetry.
Farah Nayeri is an Iranian- born journalist and author based in London who writes regularly on culture for ‘The New York Times’. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age’.
Greg Mosse is an actor, director and writer with a long career in theater producing plays and musicals. He is also the founder and leader of the West Dean College MA in Creative Writing. Greg sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss his latest book, the cli-fi thriller ‘The Coming Darkness’.
Orwell Daily is a new email subscription from Substack that sends readers excerpts of George Orwell’s writings. Georgina Godwin speaks to Jean Seaton, the director of the Orwell Foundation and a professor of media history at the University of Westminster, about this new mailout and the author’s enduring relevance.
The renowned British broadcaster and author speaks to Georgina Godwin at Cheltenham Literary Festival. The conversation covers Melvyn’s working-class upbringing in northwest England, the death of his father and his remarkable career spanning five decades to date.
Georgina Godwin speaks to journalist Christopher Riley about his new book ‘KING’; a memoir about the musical pioneer Hau Latukefu, co-written with the artist himself. It follows Hau from his childhood in Queanbeyan aka ‘struggle town’ to the top of Australian hip hop.
Georgina Godwin meets Gene Sherman, the Australian philanthropist and art collector. They speak about her new book, ‘The Spoken Object’, a beautifully photographed monograph of her extensive furniture and fashion collections, as well as the recent loss of Gene’s husband of 54 years.
Georgina Godwin speaks to psychiatrist, artist and science-fiction writer Tade Thompson about his latest darkly comic novella, ‘Jackdaw’. It follows a psychiatrist hired to write a piece on the painter Francis Bacon who becomes obsessed with the artist and his life.
Georgina Godwin meets journalist, broadcaster and author Cosmo Landesman. His new book ‘Jack and Me: How Not To Live After Loss’ is a poignant memoir about losing his son, Jack, to suicide.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Dr Rebecca Campbell and her husband, author Anthony McGowan, about their latest book, ‘How to Teach Economics to Your Dog’. Over the course of 17 dog walks, it looks at different economic concepts and how they shape our everyday lives.
The Danish novelist and writer speaks to Georgina Godwin about her new non-fiction book ‘A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast’, growing up in rural Denmark and how its rugged landscape has influenced her writing.
Angela Hui is a writer and award-winning journalist from south Wales, reporting on culture, food justice and the hospitality industry. She is also the associate editor of ‘Sandwich Magazine’. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to talk about her new memoir, ‘Takeaway’.
Writer, broadcaster and ‘rock star mythologist’ Natalie Haynes tells Georgina Godwin about her early career as a comedian, the joy of studying classics and her new book, ‘Stone Blind’. The novel sees Haynes apply a feminist lens to the Greek myth of Medusa and asks readers to see the snake-haired Gorgon not as a monster or victim but as a person.
Lviv Bookforum is Ukraine’s largest literary festival. This year it is teaming up with the UK’s Hay Festival to host 40 writers and thinkers, including Margaret Atwood and Elif Shafak. Georgina Godwin speaks to the festival’s curator, Sophia Cheliak, about the 15-strong programme of conversations covering everything from art in times of conflict to gender equality.
One of Ukraine’s most successful literary exports speaks to Georgina Godwin. Before turning to writing, Kurkov served as a prison warden and later a journalist before trying his hand at fiction. He boasts a wealth of novels and screenplays to his name, including the bestselling ‘Death and the Penguin’. His latest book is ‘Grey Bees’, which details the turmoil in Ukraine through the eyes of a mild-mannered beekeeper.
Elisa Shua Dusapin is a Franco-Korean writer and author of the award-winning novel ‘Winter in Sokcho’. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to talk about her latest book, ‘The Pachinko Parlour’, which was recently published in English.
The British cultural historian and writer speaks to Georgina Godwin. Gavin’s first book is ‘A Home for All Seasons’, published earlier this year to wide acclaim. Part-memoir, part-history, the book recounts how Gavin and his husband Alastair bought a rural English building after falling in love with it at first sight. Then Gavin began exploring its past.
Joanna Fortune is a psychotherapist and a trauma and attachment repair specialist. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Why We Play: How to Find Joy and Meaning in Everyday Life’. It looks at the importance of play in adult life and shares advice on how to stay playful.
Before Felix Francis became a novelist he spent many years as a physics teacher, helping his father, crime writer and jockey Dick Francis, with research in his spare time. After his father’s death, Francis became a full-time author in his own right. His 16th novel is ‘Hands Down’, about a conspiracy in the world of horse racing. Here he speaks to Georgina Godwin about his life and work.
Georgina Godwin speaks to British journalist and non-fiction author Simon Garfield about his latest book, ‘All the Knowledge in the World’. It looks at the fascinating history of the encyclopaedia and asks what value there is in old knowledge.
The bestselling author on her extensive writing career and latest novel, ‘The Bewitching’. Based on the 16th-century case of the witches of Warboys, the story follows Alice Samuel who accuses a neighbour of witchcraft and sets in motion a shocking train of events. Dawson has written 11 novels, many of which draw on true historical tales. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been a Costa judge.
Douglas Rushkoff is an award-winning writer and media theorist who was named as one of the world’s 10 most influential intellectuals by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires’.
The award-winning English author and literary critic talks to Georgina Godwin about his 30-year career. His latest novel, ‘The Young Pretender’, is about the rise, fall and attempted comeback of long-forgotten child actor William Henry West Betty in Georgian Britain. Arditti often deals with spirituality and sexuality in his work and was described by Philip Pullman as a ‘chronicler of the rewards and pitfalls of present-day faith’.
Nihal Arthanayake is an award-winning broadcaster and presenter who has won several accolades for his conversational skills, including Interview of the Year at the 2019 BBC Radio and Music Awards. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book ‘Let’s Talk: How to Have Better Conversations’.
The British author, director and producer tells Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Song Noir: Tom Waits and the Spirit of Los Angeles’, a gritty account of Waits’ formative first decade in LA. Harvey has produced and directed several films, including ‘Enter the Jungle’, a feature documentary on mixed martial arts fighting in Brazil. He formerly worked on Panorama and The Late Show for the BBC and is a contributing writer for the ‘London Review of Books’ and the ‘Los Angeles Review of Books’.
Mary Novakovich is an award-winning travel journalist who has written and edited numerous European guidebooks over the past 30 years. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘My Family and Other Enemies’, which is part travelogue, part memoir, which dives into the hinterland of Croatia.
South African writer Margie Orford is an award-winning journalist, film director and author. She is an honorary fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford, and the president emerita of Pen South Africa. She talks to Georgina Godwin about her new book, ‘The Eye of the Beholder’, a dramatic story of lies, trust and love.
Charles Arthus is a writer, journalist and speaker who has been reporting on science and technology for more than 30 years. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Social Warming’. It is an insightful and important exploration of the pervasive effects of social media on politics and society, and a call for us to pay attention to the world’s most compelling addiction.
The award-winning Sri Lankan writer talks to Georgina Godwin about his highly anticipated new book, ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’. Long-listed for the 2022 Booker prize, the satirical novel follows his critically acclaimed debut, ‘Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew’, which established Karunatilaka as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost authors.
Georgina Godwin speaks to journalist, educator and author Linda Villarosa. They discuss her latest book ‘Under the Skin’, which gives a detailed account of racialised health disparities in the US, as well as her Lambda Literary award-nominated first novel ‘Passing for Black’.
At this year’s World of Words Gstaad Literature Festival, Georgina Godwin speaks to the award-winning British novelist about his circuitous route to becoming a writer and his bestseller ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’.
Georgina Godwin speaks to anthropologist and ethnographer Lexi Stadlen about her new book ‘Nine Paths: A Year in the Life of an Indian Village’. Lexi spent 18 months living in a small community off eastern India, immersing herself in the community. The result is an intimate account of the lives of nine women.
Louisa Young is a best-selling novelist, journalist, songwriter and biographer. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her book, ‘Twelve Months and a Day’. Young’s newest novel is heartbreaking and thought-provoking, following the love stories of Rasmus and Jay, Róisín and Nico through life and death.
Georgina Godwin speaks to British-Indian journalist and author Mihir Bose about his latest book, ‘Dreaming the Impossible: the Battle to Create a Non-Racial Sports World’.
Arthur Snell is a former British diplomat who has held postings around the world. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book, ‘How Britain Broke the World: War, Greed and Blunders from Kosovo to Afghanistan, 1997-2021’. It draws on extensive research and personal experiences to map out how British foreign policy has fuelled the decline of the liberal international order.
Marcus Berkmann has been a freelance journalist for over 30 years. He sits down with Georgina Godwin to talk about his latest book ‘How to Be a Writer’ which offers a candid, humorous and unfiltered view into the often glamorised, but tough lives of writers today.
The winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022 speaks to Georgina Godwin. Ozeki, who is also a film-maker and Zen Buddhist priest, talks about ‘The Book of Form and Emptiness’, which tells the story of a grieving teenager who finds solace in reading.
In the run-up to the Evening Standard Stories Festival 2022, its organisers are launching a writing competition called What’s Your Story? Georgina Godwin speaks to one of the judges, author and journalist Lotte Jeffs, about the competition. They also discuss her latest book, ‘How to Be a Gentlewoman’, as well as her LGBTQ+ parenting podcast ‘Some Families’.
The journalist and author tells Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Circus of Dreams’, a memoir on the UK literary scene in the 1980s. Walsh worked as literary editor for the ‘Evening Standard’ and ‘The Sunday Times’ and spent 20 years at ‘The Independent’. He brought his lifelong passion for literature with him throughout his career, chairing the judging panel of the Forward Poetry Prize and often appearing on BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Write Stuff’.
Kit Heyam is a trans awareness trainer, writer, activist and historian, as well as a lecturer in medieval early modern studies at Queen Mary, University of London. They speak to Georgina Godwin about their new book ‘Before We Were Trans’ which looks at people around the world and throughout history whose experience of gender does not fit into binary categories. From Renaissance Venice to Japan, the United States and seventeenth-century Angola; the book is a celebration of gender as fluid and complex.
Georgina Godwin meets the author, journalist and critic, also known by her pen name SJ Parris. She’s penned a historical thriller series and a memoir about her experience of living with depression, and also writes for ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The Observer’ newspapers. Her latest novel is ‘Storm’, a psychological thriller at a grand French chateau that ends in a murder.
On ‘Monocle Reads’ this week, we give you a highlight from the Hay Festival, where Georgina Godwin spoke to bestselling author and psychotherapist Julia Samuel about her latest book, ‘Every Family Has a Story’. Diving deep into eight case studies, she reveals how deeply we are influenced by our families and offers insights into how we can face challenges together.
Born in Afghanistan, Waheed Arian has lived in a refugee camp, sheltered in cellars from a civil war, and endured malaria, TB and malnutrition. After being incarcerated in Britain as an illegal immigrant, he went on to become a doctor and now runs a global telemedicine charity, working with clinicians on the ground in developing countries. He tells Georgina Godwin his story, which is documented in his book ‘In the Wars: From Afghanistan to the UK and Beyond – a Refugee’s Story of Survival and Saving Lives’.
Sam Knight is a staff writer at ‘The New Yorker’ and a renowned longform journalist. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book, ‘The Premonitions Bureau’, which is based on a 2019 article he wrote for the magazine entitled, “The Psychiatrist Who Believed People Could Tell the Future”. It is a fascinating insight into one man’s obsession with those who predicted catastrophic events.
Description: The award-winning author, historian and journalist chats to Georgina Godwin. He is possibly best known for his book ‘Kings Leopold’s Ghost’, an account of the exploitation of people in colonial Congo and a personal biography of King Leopold of Belgium. In a far-ranging interview, he discusses his extraordinary life and work.
On Monocle Reads this week Georgina Godwin visits Hay Castle. Once a great mediaeval stronghold, the castle stands in the heart of Hay-on-Wye which is known as the Town of Books as well as the site of the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts. Building on this creative tradition, Hay Castle Trust has completed a major restoration, and given the castle a new life as a major centre for culture, arts and education.
The veteran broadcaster, biographer and historian talks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Barbarossa: How Hitler Lost the War’. It gives a detailed account of the Nazis’ calamitous invasion of the Soviet Union and the political and military decision-making that shaped it.
Nury Turkel is a Uyghur-American lawyer, human rights advocate and foreign policy expert. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book, ‘No Escape: The True Story of China’s Genocide of the Uyghurs’. The publication is a shocking account of the Chinese government’s persecution of the Muslim minority.
Georgina Godwin meets Georgia Pritchett, the multi-award-winning screenwriter who has worked on some of the most iconic shows in television. Her writing credits include ‘Succession’, ‘Veep’ and Malcolm Tucker’s foul-mouthed tirades in ‘The Thick of It’. Georgia’s memoir ‘My Mess Is a Bit of a Life: Adventures in Anxiety’, now out in paperback, details her unconventional route to writing and her moving experiences of parenting non-neurotypical children while struggling with her own mental health.
Sarah Winman is an actor-turned-author of several critically acclaimed novels. Her 2011 debut ‘When God Was A Rabbit’ took the literary world by storm and saw her win new writer of the year at the Galaxy National Book Awards. Since then she has published three novels, most recently ‘Still Life’. Spanning more than 40 years, Still Life transports readers from Florence to London and explores family, truth and love.
Georgina Godwin visits Charleston, the former home of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, which was a retreat for the historic Bloomsbury group as well as a gathering place for some of the 20th century’s most radical artists, writers and thinkers. Today it is run by the Charleston Trust and continues to be a focal point for writers, who gather annually for the Charleston Literary Festival.
Georgina Godwin meets Alice Sherwood, senior research fellow at King’s College London’s Policy Institute and former documentary maker. Her new book, ‘Authenticity: Reclaiming Reality in a Counterfeit Culture’, tells stories of fraud, fakery and realness across art, technology, business and nature. Its author asks what authenticity is – and isn’t – and why it matters.
On Monocle Reads this week Georgina Godwin speaks to Charlotte Mullins, art critic and former editor of ‘Art Review’, about her latest book, ‘A Little History of Art’. It is a comprehensive and thrilling journey through 100,000 years of art, from the first works ever made to the role art plays in contemporary culture.
Georgina Godwin meets Charlotte Van den Broeck, award-winning Flemish poet and author. Her newly translated book ‘Bold Ventures: Thirteen Tales of Architectural Tragedy’ is about architects whose design errors proved fatal, as they took their own lives or at least that’s the rumour. It is a personal, reflective and philosophical exploration of the connection between creation and creator.
David George Haskell is a Guggenheim fellow and a professor of biology and environmental studies, who has written about biology, ethics and culture for ‘The New York Times’ and other publications. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his fascinating new book, ‘Sounds Wild and Broken’, which charts the first sounds in the atmosphere that predate life on Earth.
This week, Georgina Godwin speaks to Corinne Chateau, the American actress, director and writer. She discusses working with Elia Kazan, Anne Bancroft, Shelley Winters, Katharine Hepburn and Ellen Burstyn; her book ‘The Road to Cali’; and her most recent project, the award-winning documentary ‘Safer in Silence’, which explores her Jewish-Polish heritage.
Georgina Godwin speaks to American writer, essayist and public speaker Deesha Philyaw about her latest book, ‘The Secret Lives of Church Ladies’. The award-winning collection of short stories explores the lives and relationships of black women and girls in the US, and the tension between their own needs and desires and the expectations set for them by the church and by society.
This week, Georgina Godwin speaks to Clare Conville, founder of literary agency Conville and Walsh. She also meets DBC Pierre, the Booker Prize-winning author of ‘Vernon God Little’. His latest work is ‘Big Snake Little Snake’, an exploration of risk and gambling.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Nick Chater, professor of behavioural science at Warwick University Business School, about his new book ‘The Language Game’, co-written with colleague and friend Morten H Christian. The book offers a new theory of language development, arguing that we learn to communicate not with fixed meanings and rules but through the chaotic improvisation and creativity of everyday speech.
Georgina Godwin meets Dutch author and poet Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer, whose best-selling novel ‘Grand Hotel Europa’ has just been translated into English. It is a moving and addictive masterpiece looking at European identity, nostalgia and the end of an era.
Georgina Godwin sits down with Chloë Ashby to talk about her debut novel ‘Wet Paint’. Ashby is an award-winning arts journalist and author, and a regular contributor and former editor at Monocle.
Georgina Godwin meets Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo. Her first novel, ‘We Need New Names’, was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize, making her the first Zimbabwean and first black African woman to make the shortlist. Her new novel ‘Glory’, set in an animal kingdom called Jidada, tells the story of dashed hopes, corruption and greed following the fall of a dictator.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Dipo Faloyin, senior editor of global news at ‘Vice’, about his debut book, ‘Africa is Not A Country’. It is a study on modern Africa that pushes back on harmful stereotypes to show the diversity of the continent’s thriving cultures.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Celia Paul, an artist and a chronicler of family life and connection through the medium of portraiture. Her first book, ‘Self Portrait’, was published to critical acclaim and her second is an intimate insight into her affection and admiration for artist Gwen John.
Georgina Godwin finds out all there is to know about book fairs and book festivals. She speaks with Cristina Fuentes La Roche, international director at Hay Festival, and visits the London Book Fair, where she meets Edward Nawotka of Publishers Weekly and Tinatin Beriashvili, executive director of the Georgian Publishers and Booksellers Association.
Georgina Godwin speaks to the president of Virgin Unite, the charitable arm of Virgin. Jean Oelwang worked in telecoms for two decades and across six continents before shifting to philanthropy. Her new book ‘Partnering: Forge the Deep Connections that Make Great Things Happen’ is the result of her observations of leaders and changemakers and the deep relationships that made their work possible.
Georgina Godwin sits down with Megan Walsh, a journalist and author who specialises in Chinese arts and culture. They discuss her latest book, ‘The Subplot: What China is Reading and Why it Matters’, which takes the reader through the vast country’s complex but often overlooked literary landscape.
John L Williams is a biographer and novelist, as well as the co-founder and director of a literary and arts festival in Wales. Earlier in his career he was a music writer, working for publications such as ‘The Face’, ‘GQ’ and ‘NME’. His latest book is ‘CLR James: A Life Beyond the Boundaries’, a biography of the revolutionary Trinidadian historian, Marxist campaigner and cricket writer.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Teymour Shahabi – author of the award-winning YA mystery thriller ‘The Secret Billionaire’ – about his new novel, ‘Words of Love’. The book is written entirely in text messages, emails, social-media posts and journal entries, and the genders of the two protagonists are never revealed.
Georgina Godwin sits down with John Happ to discuss his new book 'The Navigation Case' about one of the greatest campaign victories in the history of the US air force.
Georgina Godwin sits down with award-winning journalist and author Bryan Appleyard to discuss his latest book, ‘The Car’. It tells the story of the cultural impact of the automobile and how it has informed our sense of mobility, possibility and imagination over the past 150 years.
Georgina Godwin meets journalist and comedian Viv Groskop, author of ‘The Anna Karenina Fix: Life Lessons from Russian Literature’ and ‘How to Own the Room: Women and the Art of Brilliant Speaking’. Most recently, she has written about Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s transition from actor to wartime leader.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious diseases and epidemiology at Edinburgh University. They discuss his newly released scientific memoir ‘The Year the World Went Mad’, a confronting and fascinating look at the UK’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Okechukwu Nzelu’s debut novel, ‘The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney’, won the Betty Trask Award, as well as a host of other accolades. His second book, ‘Here Again Now’, is a compelling novel about lovers, fathers and sons, intimacy and generational trauma that asks how you can move forward when the past keeps pulling you back? Georgina Godwin meets the author in our studio in London.
Georgina Godwin speaks to writer and performer Aimée Lutkin about her new book ‘The Lonely Hunter’. Part memoir and part social commentary, it explores the rise of singledom, the realities of loneliness and whether it is possible to detach from romance, sex and dating.
Georgina Godwin speaks to one of the most prolific musicians and composers in the business. John Altman’s work includes ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ from Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ – which he arranged, conducted and whistled – and the score for ‘Goldeneye’. His new memoir, ‘Hidden Man: My Many Musical Lives’, details his extraordinary life and career.
This week Georgina Godwin speaks to author and chemist Kathryn Harkup about her latest book, ‘Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts’. It looks into the different ways the bard killed off his characters, as well as what actual events might have inspired him.
Coco Mellors has written for ‘The New York Times’, ‘The Stack’ and ‘Flash Fiction Magazine’ among many other publications. She has now turned her hand to novels and her debut, ‘Cleopatra and Frankenstein’, details the whirlwind romance and marriage of 24-year-old British artist Cleo and forty-something advertising executive Frank. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her book, which goes beyond a conventional love story.
Georgina Godwin sits down with Lucy Hannah, founder and director of Untold and its Write Afghanistan project, and Shekiba Habib, translator and journalist with the BBC Afghan service, to discuss ‘My Pen is the Wing of a Bird’, a new collection of fiction written by Afghan women. Untold is an initiative to develop and amplify the voices of marginalised writers.
Jim Morrison, frontman of The Doors, was just 27 when he died in 1971. ‘A Guide to the Labyrinth: The Collected Works of Jim Morrison’ is a vast new collection of his never-before-seen poetry, songwriting and personal diaries. Georgina Godwin speaks to Anne Morrison, the singer’s younger sister and the co-executor of his works, about this revelatory and intimate anthology.
This week Georgina Godwin speaks to authors Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan. They are the editors of ‘Anonymous Sex’, a groundbreaking new anthology of erotic short fiction. Featuring some of the biggest names in literature, including winners of the Pulitzer, National Book award, Pen awards, Women’s Prize and more, these 27 stories appear with no bylines.
Georgina Godwin speaks to esteemed broadcaster and founding member of the Channel 4 news team, Michael Crick. His new book ‘One Party After Another: The Disruptive Life of Nigel Farage’ profiles one of the UK’s most controversial political characters, Nigel Farage.
Georgina Godwin speaks to the author of best-selling novel ‘Saving Missy’, Beth Morrey, about her new book, ‘Em & Me’. It tells the tender story of single mother Delphine Jones who is worried about her past catching up with her while she tries to establish the best future for herself, her father and her beloved daughter Em.
Georgina Godwin meets the man behind hit Netflix show, ‘Lupin’. The French mystery thriller has had magnificent success and was the most-viewed title on the streaming service in the first three months of 2021.
Nicholas Jubber is a travel writer, journalist and award-winning author. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his fifth book, ‘The Fairy Tellers’, which offers a fresh perspective on some of our most well-known stories and recounts their provenance for the contemporary reader. Filled with adventure, tragedy and real-world magic, this bewitching book uncovers the strange lives behind the strangest of tales.
Georgina Godwin meets Kate Mosse, who is the author of eight novels and short-story collections, as well as works of non-fiction and plays. Her work has been translated into 38 languages and published in more than 40 countries. She is also the co-founder of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the largest annual celebration of women’s writing in the world.
Nick Blackburn is a therapist with a background in literature and the arts, whose work sits at the intersection of the complexities of the human mind and the written word. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new memoir, ‘The Reactor: A Book about Grief and Repair’. It is a reckoning with loss, told through fragments uniting the personal with philosophy, music, art and psychology.
Brian Klaas is an academic and columnist for ‘The Washington Post’. He has advised governments, worked on political campaigns and written for ‘The New York Times’, ‘The Guardian’ and the ‘Financial Times’. Georgina Godwin talks to him about his new book ‘Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us’, which attempts to answer the age-old question: does power corrupt or are the corrupt drawn to power?
Georgina Godwin speaks to Andrew Maunder about his latest book, ‘Enid Blyton: A Literary Life’. It tells the story of one of England’s most prolific writers, whose reputation has faced a reckoning since her death in 1968. The book covers the entirety of Blyton’s writing career and how her work has lived on afterwards.
Georgina Godwin meets Ian Hislop, the editor of Britain’s most successful (and indeed only) fortnightly satirical magazine. He has been at the helm of ‘Private Eye’ for 32 years, leading its investigative journalism, spoofs and, of course, iconic covers.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Stuart Jeffries about his latest book, ‘Everything, All the Time, Everywhere: How We Became Postmodern’. It is a unique history of postmodernism from the 1970s until today, exploring how behind the notion of the movement as escapism is the more sinister idea of its close relationship with neoliberalism.
To welcome in the new year, we delve into some of the most interesting and entertaining conversations we had on Meet The Writers in 2021.
To celebrate the festive season, we look back at the people behind the prose we’ve featured on the programme this year and highlight some of our favourite interviews.
Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas’ is the biggest selling song of all time. Pip Burley tells Georgina Godwin the sad tale behind Irving Berlin’s tune and why it continues to capture our imagination so many decades later.
Georgina Godwin speaks to Jim Downs about his latest book ‘Maladies of Empire: How Colonialism, Slavery, and War Transformed Medicine’. It is an in-depth global history which looks at how modern medicine developed and the role of human catastrophe in this. By exploring these connections, the book seeks to find out the true price of medical progress.
Simon Mundy is a journalist and the moral money editor at the ‘Financial Times’. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Race for Tomorrow: Survival, Innovation and Profit on the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis’.
The Walk is a travelling festival of art and cross-border collaboration, at the heart of which is Amal, the giant 3.5 metre-tall puppet, which this year has walked 8,000km in support of refugees. Now, the story of Amal has been put into book form, in the official companion ‘The Long Walk with Little Amal’. Georgina Godwin spoke with David Lan, one of the producers of ‘The Walk’, and Christopher MacLehose, publisher at Mountain Leopard Press.
Timothy Ogene has a catalogue of academic achievements from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions. He currently lectures at Harvard University, as well as writing fiction and poetry and he tells Georgina Godwin about his second novel, ‘Seesaw’, which tells the story of a writer plucked from obscurity in Nigeria to attend an American writing programme. With a wry and light touch, ‘Seesaw’ explores the world of modern academia, cultural dislocation and what happens when the two collide.
The surrealist movement of the 20th century produced cultural icons including André Breton, Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí. While the enduring names of the movement are of men, women played a pivotal role in surrealism not merely as muses but as artists. Georgina Godwin speaks to Maryam Diener, whose book ‘Exquisite Corpse’ brings together the stories of some of these women and helps cement their rightful place in history.
Georgina Godwin sits down with Mark Freestone, author of ‘Making a Psychopath’ and Gwen Adshead, co-author of ‘The Devil You Know’ to discuss the dark world of psychopaths. Both have spent time in the company of psychopaths, either fictional or in real life, and know a little more than most about what makes them tick. This conversation was originally recorded at The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival.
Jennifer Otter Bickerdike is an author and a rock ’n’ roll cultural historian who has been in the centre of the music industry for the last 30 years. She sat down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her latest book, ‘Being Britney: Pieces of a Modern Icon’.
Hilma Wolitzer started writing as a child and had her first poem published at the tender age of nine. But it wasn’t until decades later, once she had had and raised her children, that her career really took off. Since then she has published 14 books and her daughter, Meg, has also become a successful novelist. Georgina Godwin speaks to Wolitzer about ‘Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket’, her new book of short stories, which spans her extensive literary career.
Author and ‘The New Yorker’ staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe was this week named the winner of the 2021 Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction. He sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss his winning book, ‘Empire of Pain’, about the rise and fall of the Sackler dynasty.
Before he became political editor of ITV News, Robert Peston’s career included stints as a journalist and presenter for the likes of ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ and the BBC. The author of multiple non-fiction books, he’s now turned his hand to fiction, although the theme doesn’t stray too far from what he knows. He talks to Georgina Godwin about his first novel ‘The Whistleblower’, a thriller centred around a lobby journalist at the time of the UK’s 1997 general election.
Caitlin Davies is a novelist, non-fiction writer and teacher whose work is inspired by women forgotten by history. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book ‘Queens of the Underworld’, which tells the story of Britain’s female criminals, whose stories haven’t had the same exposure as the likes of Ronnie Biggs or the Kray twins but are no less extraordinary.
Georgina Godwin meets Richard Powers, an acclaimed writer with an array of awards under his belt – including a Pulitzer prize for fiction. While at university, he switched from majoring in physics to English literature but science has remained a central part of his writing. His new novel ‘Bewilderment’ was shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize. It uses fiction to explore urgent questions of how we treat the environment and just how close we might be to the edge.
Georgina Godwin speaks to the winner of the 2021 Booker prize, Damon Galgut. Having published his first novel at the age of 17 and having been shortlisted for the coveted prize twice before, Galgut’s time finally came in 2021. ‘The Promise’ is an ambitious novel, spanning four decades of South Africa’s history, told through a family saga. In the words of the Booker judges, it poses the knotty question, “Does true justice exist in this world?”
Elif Shafak is a bestselling author in several countries around the world and her work has been translated into a staggering 55 languages. A political scientist by training, her books are revered for their ability to weave intricate threads into enthralling stories. She talks to Georgina Godwin about her new novel, ‘The Island of Missing Trees’, a unique story of memory, immigration and generational trauma.
US literary critic Mark McGurl is the Albert Guérard professor of literature at Stanford University, where his work centres on the relationship of literature to social, educational and other institutions. He tells Georgina Godwin about his new book, ‘Everything and Less: The Novel in the Age of Amazon’, which explores what happens when literature and corporations become inextricably linked.
Baroness Hale is a trailblazer who was the first woman to serve in the role of president of the UK Supreme Court. While judges don’t tend to become too well-known, her ruling on the Brexit process shot her into the public eye – both for her judgement and a rather eye-catching brooch. Georgina Godwin speaks with Baroness Hale about her new memoir, ‘Spider Woman’.
The London Literature Festival runs at the Southbank Centre from 21 to 31 October, bringing 10 days of the very best of live literature to the capital. This year the festival invites you to celebrate the joys and complexities of friendship with writers, poets, musicians, scientists and comedians. Georgina Godwin took a walk around the venue with Ted Hodgkinson, head of literature and spoken word at the Southbank Centre.
Georgina Godwin is in conversation with Sylvia Whitman, who spends her days surrounded by words but is not the one putting pen to paper. She is the proprietor of the Shakespeare & Company bookshop in Paris, a legendary landmark.
Russell Jones is a sensory consultant who is fascinated by how our senses change how we feel, think and act every day. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book ‘The Power of your Senses’, which details his “sensory prescriptions” for everything from waking up to going to bed – and everything that happens in between.
Agnes Poirier is a journalist, author and political commentator. Georgina Godwin speaks to her about her latest book, ‘Notre-Dame: The Soul of France’, which explores the magnificent history and uncertain future of one of the world’s most iconic buildings. Containing personal accounts of the day when it went up in flames, and the cultural war over its future, it explains why Notre-Dame is so important to the nation – and the world.
On ‘Monocle Reads’ this week Georgina Godwin visits the team behind the Cheltenham Festival, including head of programming Nicola Tuxworth, for an insight into the process behind the world's oldest literature festival. This year’s theme is “Read the World” and the Festival runs from 8 until 17 October.
Annie Macmanus is a household name, though not necessarily as a writer. As Annie Mac, she has had a long and incredibly successful career as a DJ and broadcaster, having hosted programmes for 17 years on BBC Radio 1 until this summer. Georgina Godwin speaks to her about her debut novel ‘Mother Mother’, which this year became a ‘Sunday Times’ bestseller.
Martin Bailey co-curated Tate Britain’s 2019 exhibition ‘Van Gogh and Britain’. He is the author of several books on the artist and writes the weekly newsletter ‘Adventures with Van Gogh’ for ‘The Art Newspaper’. Bailey tells Georgina Godwin about his latest book, ‘Van Gogh’s Finale: Auvers & the Artist’s Rise to Fame’, a comprehensive analysis of the artist’s suicide and what followed.
Acclaimed writer, journalist and broadcaster Robert McCrum has had a distinguished career, including stints as editor in chief of Faber & Faber and literary editor of ‘The Observer’. Throughout, William Shakespeare has served as a guide and comfort, not least after McCrum suffered a stroke and rediscovered his sense of the world through the bard’s words. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book ‘Shakespearean: On Life and Language in Times of Disruption’.
Georgina Godwin speaks to German-American writer Deborah Feldman. Born into a strict Hasidic community in New York, Feldman longed for more and in 2012 she released her autobiography ‘Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots’. The best-selling story of how she left to find freedom and independence has inspired the hit Netflix drama ‘Unorthodox’.
Sebastian Faulks has been an indomitable force of the British literary scene since his first novel was published in 1984. His 1993 novel ‘Birdsong’ sold more than 2 million copies in the UK and regularly features as one of the nation’s favourite books. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new novel ‘Snow Country’, the second in a loose trilogy set in Austria, which explores consciousness and the human psyche.
Tom Chivers is a poet and publisher who has long been fascinated by London, the city he grew up in and continues to call home. His fascination is not with the landmarks and monuments that are easy to spot but with what lies underneath the city: the hidden and submerged past that is buried below its streets. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book ‘London Clay’. Combining history, geology and memoir, it takes us on eight fascinating journeys in the depths of the city.
Georgina Godwin talks to Will Storr. His critically acclaimed books are about everything from ghosts to selfies, but at the heart of his work is a desire to look deep into the human experience and explore just why we think or behave the way we do. His new book ‘The Status Game’ argues that competition for status underpins all human activity.
The Women’s Prize for Fiction is one of the greatest annual, international celebrations of female creativity. It is now in its 26th year and it honours outstanding, ambitious, original fiction written in English by women from anywhere in the world. The 2021 award was won by Susanna Clarke for her novel ‘Piranesi’. Georgina Godwin went along to the party to celebrate her success.
Writing for ‘The New York Times’, Christopher Clarey has captured the drama of sport for more than 25 years. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book ‘The Master’, which tells the story of the greatest player in men’s tennis, Roger Federer.
Georgina Godwin meets publisher Christopher MacLehose and acclaimed Indian author Anuradha Roy. MacLehose, a leader in translated literature in the UK, is reported to have brought works into English from 34 languages. He recently launched Mountain Leopard Press, which focuses on translation as well as contemporary literature. One of its lead titles is ‘The Earthspinner’, the fifth novel by Anuradha Roy.
This edition of ‘Meet The Writers’ takes a slightly different direction as Georgina Godwin speaks to Phil Manzanera. He is a writer – but one who uses notes and staves rather than words. Manzanera shot to fame in the 1970s as lead guitarist with seminal band Roxy Music and is also a record producer, who has worked with some of the most celebrated musicians in the world.
Georgina Godwin speaks to academic John Wiseman about his new book ‘Hope and Courage in the Climate Crisis: Wisdom and Action in the Long Emergency’, which draws on science, philosophy, indigenous cultures, spiritual traditions and more to inspire action as we face ecological calamity.
Georgina Godwin speaks to author, broadcaster and screenwriter Sarfraz Manzoor about his new book ‘They’, which examines divisions between white and Muslim communities in the UK and the possibility of a brighter future.
Georgina Godwin sits down with Deborah Moggach in the acclaimed author’s garden on the UK’s south coast to discuss her brilliant new novel, ‘The Black Dress’. It follows Pru, who becomes a serial funeral crasher in the hope of curing her loneliness after her husband leaves her out of the blue.
Many people describe themselves as book lovers but there is no doubt about Nicholas Royle’s devotion to the printed word. As a writer, editor and creative writing teacher, books are fundamental to his life. Georgina Godwin meets Royle to discuss his new book. ‘White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector’ is part memoir, part non-fiction and explores the secondhand shops that Royle used to build his 1,000-book collection of Picador fiction.
Georgina Godwin speaks to journalist and activist Saumya Roy about her new book ‘Mountain Tales’, which tells the story of the garbage mountains of Mumbai and the waste pickers who spend their days on them.
Jarred McGinnis is a debut novelist but he’s not new to the literary scene. His short fiction has appeared in journals in the UK and North America, and he has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4. His organisation The Special Relationship puts on events that experiment in live literature and it was chosen for the British Council’s International Literary Showcase. Georgina Godwin speaks to McGinnis about his new book ‘The Coward’, which fictionalises his own autobiography and the aftermath of the accident that changed his life.
Ellen Wiles is a novelist, anthropologist and curator, as well as a creative writing lecturer at The University of Exeter. Her 2017 debut novel ‘The Invisible Crowd’ was awarded the Victor Turner Prize for ethnographic writing and was a ‘Guardian’ book of the year. Ellen speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book ‘Live Literature’, which takes readers along to different in-person literary events, exploring why they have become so popular and what significance they have to literary culture.
Georgina Godwin talks to American novelist Jessica Anya Blau. Her hit novels have been featured on ‘The Today Show’, CNN and NPR, and in ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘Vanity Fair’, ‘Bust’, ‘Time Out’, ‘Oprah Summer Reads’ and other national publications. Her most recent book, ‘Mary Jane’, is a coming-of-age story set in 1970s Baltimore.
Tharik Hussain is a writer and journalist who has written travel guides for Lonely Planet and won awards for his BBC World Service radio documentary: ‘America’s Mosques: A Story of Integration’. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Minarets in the Mountains’, which took him and his family on a journey through the western Balkans to discover a version of Islam that’s less known in Europe.
William Green knows a little more than most about how to stack the odds in your favour. His career as a financial journalist has seen him write for publications including ‘The New Yorker’, ‘Time’, ‘Fortune’, and ‘Forbes’. He has reported from all over the world and interviewed presidents, CEOs, billionaires, and investors. Georgina Godwin speaks to Green about his new book ‘Richer, Wiser, Happier’, which goes inside the lives of the world’s most successful investors to find out what lessons they have to teach us on investing and beyond.
Arifa Akbar is the chief theatre critic at ‘The Guardian’. A journalist for over 20 years, she previously held the position of literary editor at ‘The Independent’ and worked as an arts and news correspondent. She speaks with Georgina Godwin about her new memoir ‘Consumed’ which is a personal exploration of her own grief after her sister died at the age of 45 from tuberculosis. In this moving debut, Arifa explores illness, sisterhood, and the role of art in life and loss.
Georgina Godwin talks to Galway-born Lisa McInerney about her work and career, in which the city and people of Cork seem to have captured her heart. Her latest book, ‘The Rules of Revelation’, is the third in a series focusing on a range of loveable characters, each trying to find their way with the odds stacked against them.
By now we are all aware of the pay gap between genders but what about the gaps that are harder to quantify? On this week’s ‘Monocle Reads’ Georgina Godwin speaks to journalist and academic Mary Ann Sieghart about her latest book ‘The Authority Gap’, which examines the disparity between men and women – one that can take different shapes but clearly permeates the lives of many women.
Tahmima Anam is a writer for publications including ‘The Guardian’, ‘New York Times’, and ‘New Statesman’, as well as a successful novelist. While her early novels painted detailed portraits of the Bangladesh war of independence through the eyes of one family, her new book transports us to the centre of the technology world. Georgina Godwin speaks to Anam about her new novel ‘The Startup Wife’ at Hay Festival in Wales.
Georgina Godwin speaks to former musician and composer Jonathan Crane about his debut novel ‘We Need to Talk’. Told through a series of unexpected characters and their interconnected lives, the book paints a picture of Middle England on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lionel Shriver doesn’t shy away from controversy, and instead seems quite drawn to it. She rose to acclaim following the release of her novel ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ in 2003. Since then, she’s won the Orange prize for fiction and written for ‘The Wall Street Journal’, the ‘Financial Times’, and ‘The New York Times’. Shriver speaks with Georgina Godwin about her newest work ‘Should We Stay or Should We Go’, which explores different approaches to how we maintain our dignity in death with a surprisingly light touch.
Ciaran Thapar is a London-based youth worker, activist and author who has written about social justice for publications such as ‘The Guardian’, ‘New Statesman’, and ‘GQ’. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his important new book ‘Cut Short: Youth Violence, Loss and Hope in the City’.
Alex Michaelides’ debut novel ‘The Silent Patient’ was a huge hit, winning a Goodreads Choice award in 2019 and topping ‘The New York Times’ best seller list on its release. Now, Georgina Godwin talks to Alex about his new book, ‘The Maidens’, which is another psychological thriller, this time set in the eerie halls of Cambridge University.
On ‘Monocle Reads’ this week we speak to Thomas Gommes. A lawyer turned writer, he is the founder of World of Words Gstaad, a literature symposium taking place this weekend that hopes to be an international celebration of storytelling in all forms. Thomas speaks to Georgina Godwin about this weekend’s programme as well as his own short fiction writing.
Jane Thynne is an accomplished historical novelist, but her newest book ‘Widowland’ diverges from her previous work. Georgina Godwin sits down with Thynne to discuss how she merged her personal experience of early widowhood with feminist dystopia, and why she’s decided to publish this book under a pseudonym.
Natasha Brown is a British writer. She studied Mathematics at Cambridge University before spending a decade working in the finance industry. In 2019 she received a London Writers Award in the literary fiction category and developed her novella ‘Assembly’, an exploration of class and race that follows a day in the life of a young black British woman. Natasha speaks to Georgina Godwin about her new book, one of the most exciting and well-received debuts of the year.
Georgina Godwin sits down with UK writer Rupert Thomson to discuss his life and career to date. In a long and fruitful writing career, Thomson has written 13 novels and a memoir, earning countless plaudits alongside awards such as the Writers’ Guild non-fiction book of the year. As well as longer-form writing, his work has featured in publications such as the ‘Financial Times’, ‘The Guardian’, and the ‘London Review of Books’. His new novel ‘Barcelona Dreaming’ is a story of addiction, racism, celebrity, immigration and self-delusion set against a backdrop of the Catalonian capital.
André Aciman is a prolific author, best known for his best-selling novel and subsequent big-screen hit ‘Call Me by Your Name’, as well as being a professor of comparative literature at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. He speaks to Georgia Godwin about his latest collection of essays ‘Homo Irrealis’, which explores time, memory and the creative mind.
Fiona Mozley is arguably one of Britain’s most exciting young writers. The former bookseller catapulted to fame when her debut novel ‘Elmet’ was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It went on to earn plaudits across the board as well as winning the Somerset Maugham Award and the Polari First Book Prize. Her latest novel, ‘Hot Stew’, is a fascinating story that examines the difficulties of overdevelopment and gentrification in London through the lens of sex workers in Soho.
Isabel Costello is a British writer and aromatherapist with a lifelong love of France. She has been nominated for numerous awards for her short fiction writing and in 2016 she released her first novel, ‘Paris Mon Amour’. In this week’s Monocle Reads, Isabel speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book ‘Scent’, set in Paris and Provence, which follows a perfumer’s conflicting desires and intimate relationships.
British writer Esther Freud’s first novel, ‘Hideous Kinky’, was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. Following that, she went on to receive numerous awards and selected by ‘Granta’ as a best young British novelist selection. She has since gone on to write many books and plays and also teaches creative writing at the Faber Academy. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her life and latest book ‘I Couldn’t Love You More’, which explores a woman’s journey through love, motherhood, secrets and betrayal.
Bennett Voyles is an American business writer and an avid walker based in Berlin. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Onwards, Backward! -or- A Ramble to Santiago’. It follows Bennett along with his wife and three teenage daughters as they attempt the 1,500-kilometre journey of both the French and Spanish legs of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.
Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich opened their first restaurant, Honey & Co, in London in 2012. Since then they have become known for serving delicious Middle Eastern food using the best ingredients, all with an extremely warm welcome from one of the friendliest teams in town. Both originally from Israel, they sat down with Georgina Godwin to discuss their careers and latest book, ‘Chasing Smoke: Cooking over Fire Around the Levant’.
For our last Monocle Reads episode with Hay festival, we look at how its programme explores our post-coronavirus future. Georgina Godwin speaks with Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates – who will lead a series of discussions at Hay around motherhood and the ways in which the pandemic has impacted it – and with award-winning writer and journalist Matthew D’Ancona who discusses his latest book ‘Identity, Ignorance, Innovation: Why the old politics is useless – and what to do about it’.
Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim is a chemist and science journalist. During her doctoral studies at Harvard, she started the Youtube channel The Secret Life of Scientists, which marked the start of her mission to “infect” people with a love of science. She lives in Germany, where she hosts a national TV series on science and produces the Youtube channel Mailab. Her book ‘Chemistry for Breakfast’ has been on the Spiegel bestseller list since November 2019.
George Floyd: One Year On is a series of events curated by Lemn Sissay as part of this year’s Hay Festival. Georgina Godwin explores the series with Sissay and two of the speakers taking part, author Maaza Mengiste and political commentator and activist Ash Sarkar.
Suzanne Heywood made her name in the corporate world, with stints at McKinsey and now CNH Industrial. Her latest book, ‘What Does Jeremy Think? Jeremy Heywood and the Making of Modern Britain’, details the life of her late husband, a former head of the Home Civil Service. It combines the emotion of a biography with a look at a man considered to be the beating heart of UK politics.
PM300 is a series of panels exploring issues of leadership and democracy at the 34th spring edition of the Hay festival. It marks the 300th anniversary of Britain appointing its first prime minister. To find out more about the series, Georgina Godwin speaks to author and PM300 panellist, Carole Walker, as well as chief of staff at Hay and organiser of the series, Adrian Lambert.
British writer Matthew Kneale has been based in Rome for the best part of 20 years. Born in London to a family of writers, he studied at Oxford and taught english in Japan before embarking on his own writing career, during which he’s published seven novels, including the Booker-shortlisted ‘English Passengers’, and three works of non-fiction. His latest book, ‘The Rome Plague Diaries: Lockdown Life in the Eternal City’, is an unflinching look at the Italian capital during its shutdown last year.
This week we continue exploring the programme of the upcoming Hay Festival with a closer look at Hay-on-Earth, a series of 22 events exploring the latest environmental science, sustainable policies and creative responses to the climate crisis. Georgina Godwin talks with two of the writers speaking as part of Hay-on-Earth; author and scientist Jonathan Drori tells us about his book ‘Around the World in 80 Plants’ and Imbolo Mbue, best-selling author of ‘Beloved Dreams’, speaks to us about her latest novel, ‘How Beautiful We Were’.
Olivia Laing is an acclaimed writer, critic and fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She has written a novel as well as numerous works of non-fiction. The latest is ‘Everybody: A Book about Freedom’, which charts the struggle for bodily freedom.
Hay Festival has just announced the programme for its 34th spring edition, a digital event broadcasting some of the world’s greatest writers and thinkers from the small town of Hay-on-Wye. To get an overview, we hear from chair of the festival Caroline Michel, as well as two of the writers speaking: award-winning author Jon McGregor and hugely successful debut novelist Hafsa Zayyan.
Georgina Godwin talks to Terri White, the award-winning magazine editor and current editor-in-chief of ‘Empire’ magazine. From the outside it seemed as though she was living the dream but this could not have been further from the truth. Her book ‘Coming Undone’ is a deeply compelling and brutally honest memoir touching on mental health, alcoholism, imposter syndrome and child sexual abuse.
Robin Dunbar is an anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist. Alongside his research he is a prolific author, publishing numerous books across academic and popular science. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships’.
Polly Samson is a UK novelist and lyricist best known for writing the lyrics to seven tracks on Pink Floyd’s hit album, ‘The Division Bell’. The former journalist has written a number of critically acclaimed short stories and novels, the latest of which is ‘A Theatre for Dreamers’, a story of discovery set against the beautiful backdrop of Hydra, the Greek island fabled for its hedonism in the 1960s. The book was widely hailed as one of the best novels of 2020.
Progressive funeral director Louise Winter and end-of-life doula Anna Lyons are behind Life Death Whatever, an initiative that aims to rethink conversations around death. They speak to Georgina Godwin about their thoughtful new book ‘We All Know How This Ends: Lessons about life and living from working with death and dying’.
Multi-award-winning writer and memoirist Monique Roffey was born in Trinidad and educated in the UK. She has won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and claimed the 2020 Costa Book of the Year award for her recent novel, ‘The Mermaid of Black Conch’. Roffey also teaches the next generation of writers as a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Jessie Greengrass is a rising star in British literature. She has won numerous awards and her debut novel ‘Sight’ was shortlisted for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book ‘The High House’, which explores the difficult realities of living through climate change.
Georgina Godwin speaks to former foreign correspondent for Reuters, the BBC and ‘The Financial Times’, Michela Wrong. Reporting predominantly from Africa, she covered post-genocide Rwanda and the last days of the Mobutu dictatorship as well as numerous other stories across the continent. She has also written a number of books across both fiction and non-fiction, including her Pen prize-winning debut on Mobutu, ‘In the Footsteps of Kurtz’, and Orwell prize-shortlisted ‘It’s our turn to eat’. Her latest book ‘Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad’, focuses on Rwanda and its lurch towards authoritarianism.