20 February 2016
Episode 11
28 minutes
Photo: Alex Stapleton
One of the most important Canadian literary voices, Yann Martel is Georgina Godwin’s guest on ‘Meet The Writers’ this week. Following the award-winning ‘Life of Pi’ – which sold 13 million copies and was made into an Oscar-winning film – he’s back with ‘The High Mountains of Portugal’, which looks to be every bit as successful. In an intimate chat he opens up about faith, death, storytelling and allegorical animals.
20 February 2016
Share episode
DownloadWant more radio episodes like these in your inbox?
Sign up to Monocle's email newsletters to stay on top of news and opinion, plus the latest from the magazine, radio, film and shop.
Meet the Writers - latest episodes
Lauren Groff
In 2015, then-president Barack Obama named Groff’s ‘Fates and Furies’ his book of the year. She was named by Granta as one of the best young American writers of her generation and has a new collection of short stories out…
Peter Stamm
As we spend the week broadcasting from our Zürich bureau, we talk to Swiss author Peter Stamm, one of the country’s bestselling authors.
Franny Moyle
A passionate cultural historian, Moyle started her career as the BBC’s first dedicated commissioner for arts and culture before moving onto writing some of the most riveting biographies of recent years.
SJ Naudé
We head to the Edinburgh International Book festival to meet SJ Naudé. The South African former lawyer talks about his novel ‘The Third Reel’, which explores the Cold War and anti-apartheid movement.
Nik Gowing
After 18 successful years as a foreign-affairs specialist at ITN, Nik Gowing went on to be the longest-serving anchor on BBC World News. He talks to us about his career and his new book ‘Thinking the Unthinkable’.
Louisa Young
An award-winning author and singer-songwriter, Young talks about her life and her latest book ‘You Left Early’. It charts her all-consuming relationship with composer Robert Lockhart and his all-consuming relationship with…
Anuradha Roy
One of India’s greatest living novelists, Anuradha Roy has been longlisted for the Man Booker prize for her writing. In this interview, she discusses her work, and inequality and nationalism in India.
Joanna Coles
Joanna Coles is the former editor of ‘Cosmopolitan’ and was the inspiration behind television shows ‘Running in Heels’ and ‘The BoldType’. We discuss her meteoric career rise and new book, ‘Love Rules: How to Find a Real…
Panashe Chigumadzi and Ellah Wakatama Allfrey
As Zimbabwe holds elections we look at its history through the eyes of Panashe Chigumadzi, a Zimbabwean-born novelist and essayist. Plus: we talk to her publisher Ellah Wakatama Allfrey of The Indigo Press about starting…
Peter Hain
With an illustrious political career, Hain has been leader of the House of Commons, Europe minister and Africa minister, among other prominent positions in UK government. Originally from South Africa, he tells us about his…
Tim Winton
As one of Australia’s foremost writers, Winton has twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize. He tells us about toxic masculinity and the accidents that have shaped his life.
Ben Rhodes
Rhodes was a speechwriter and foreign-policy adviser to Barack Obama during the leader’s entire tenure. Here he gives us a unique insight into the everyday affairs of the Oval Office, as well as his personal friendship with…
Sir Antony Beevor
English military historian Sir Antony Beevor is the author of four novels and 12 non-fiction books. We discuss his latest book on the Battle of Arnhem, and the war stories that countries sometimes prefer not to be told.
Burhan Sonmez
On the eve of the Turkish elections, Georgina Godwin speaks to the prize-winning Turkish novelist whose latest work, ‘Istanbul Istanbul’, has been published in more than 20 countries. He tells us about his writing career…
Marcello Di Cintio
Marcello Di Cintio has wandered through western and northern Africa, and has written a book about the experience. He’s also written about walls, fences and other ‘hard’ barriers – and the people who live in their shadows…
