Meet the Writers
Georgina Godwin in conversation with top authors. Explore their inspirations, writing processes, and the stories behind their books.
Latest Episodes
Eleanor Catton
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…
Oksana Zabuzhko
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…
Sally Hayden
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…
Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
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…
James Crawford
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…
Cal Flyn
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.
Sarah May
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…
Howard Jacobson
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.
Sally Gardner
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.
The Best of 2022 – Part 2
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.
