Meet the Writers
Georgina Godwin in conversation with top authors. Explore their inspirations, writing processes, and the stories behind their books.
Latest Episodes
Monocle Reads: Sean Ashton
‘Sampler’ is a selection of encyclopaedia entries written by poets. The book is edited by Sean Ashton, who speaks to Georgina Godwin about the collection and his memoir, ‘Living in a Land’, which is written entirely in sentences constructed in the negative.
Oksana Zabuzhko
Oksana Zabuzhko is Ukraine’s leading author, best known for her novel ‘Field Work in Ukrainian Sex’, as well as her magnum opus ‘The Museum of Abandoned Secrets’. She speaks to Georgin Godwin about her work and her new book of short stories, ‘Your Ad Could Go Here’, which takes a…
Monocle Reads: Annie Zaidi
Georgina Godwin speaks to writer, poet and reporter Annie Zaidi about her latest book, ‘Bread, Cement, Cactus’. Part memoir and part reportage, it won the Nine Dots Prize, which celebrates creative thinking around contemporary societal issues.
Gill Bennett
Gill Bennett was chief historian at the UK Foreign Office for 40 years. She tells Georgina Godwin about her new book, ‘The Zinoviev Letter’, which investigates the murky world of espionage and global conspiracy in the 1920s.
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher and writer whose vast catalogue of work has earned him celebrity status across the globe. A radical leftist, his work encompasses everything from psychoanalysis and political theory to art and film criticism. Described as “the leading Hegelian of our time”, he speaks to Georgina…
Monocle Reads: Jenny Kleeman
Georgina Godwin speaks to writer and documentary film-maker Jenny Kleeman about her debut book ‘Sex Robots & Vegan Meat: Adventures at the Frontier of Birth, Food, Sex & Death’, which offers a sideway look at the fundamentals of human life.
Waubgeshig Rice
Georgina Godwin speaks to Waubgeshig Rice, a Canadian journalist and writer originally from Wasauksing First Nation. An award-winning broadcaster, he is also a successful author. His latest novel, ‘Moon of the Crusted Snow’, explores the fate of a remote Anishinaabe community.
Monocle Reads: Derek Owusu
Georgina Godwin speaks to writer, poet and podcaster Derek Owusu about his debut novel ‘That Reminds Me’, which won him the 2020 Desmond Elliott Prize. The first book to be released on Stormzy’s Merky Books imprint, it explores addiction, identity and belonging through the fragments of one young man’s memory.
Vincent Brown
Vincent Brown is a professor of African and African-American studies and director of the History Design Studio at Harvard. His fascinating new book, ‘Tacky’s Revolt’, looks at slavery in a completely different light, placing the Jamaican revolts of 1760 firmly within the broader history of the time.
Monocle Reads: Laura Mucha
Georgina Godwin speaks to award-winning poet and writer Laura Mucha about her latest book, ‘We Need to Talk About Love’. With personal stories from hundreds of people across different ages and nationalities, it analyses how we think, feel and behave about love.
