Meet the Writers
Georgina Godwin in conversation with top authors. Explore their inspirations, writing processes, and the stories behind their books.
Latest Episodes
Maaza Mengiste
Maaza Mengiste is a bright new force in international literature. She tells Georgina Godwin about her new book, ‘The Shadow King’, which casts a light on the women who went to war in the late 1930s in Ethiopia, the country of Mengiste’s birth.
Monocle Reads: Josie Goodbody
On this week’s Monocle Reads, Georgina Godwin speaks to Josie Goodbody. A jewellery expert, and author of the Jemima Fox Mysteries, a series of novels exploring the exciting topic of Jewellery Heists.
Timur Vermes
Former journalist Timur Vermes’s debut novel, ‘Er Ist Wieder Da’ (‘Look Who’s Back’), topped the Spiegel Bestseller list in 2011 and has since been translated into 27 languages and adapted for the screen. Vermes’s imagined return of Adolf Hitler to modern Berlin announced the German writer as a bold new…
Monocle Reads: Jonathan Heawood
Jonathan Heawood – journalist, campaigner and founder of the UK’s first independent press regulator – speaks to Georgina Godwin about the problems facing modern media in the digital age.
Kim Ghattas
Emmy award-winning journalist Kim Ghattas, who was born and raised in Lebanon, has spent two decades reporting on the Middle East. Her new book, ‘Black Wave’, examines the destructive rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia post-1979.
Monocle Reads: Samra Habib
We speak to Samra Habib, a writer, feminist and voice for gay muslims. Her new book, a memoir titled ‘We Have Always Been Here’, explores identity, faith, love and art, from her childhood in Pakistan to escaping religious persecution and emigrating to Canada.
Omar Shahid Hamid
Omar Shahid Hamid is an award-winning Pakistani writer. A serving member of the Karachi Police, he has been actively targeted by various terrorist groups and wounded in the line of duty. He’s hailed for his ability to translate the complexity of life in Pakistan, especially the criminal underbelly of Karachi,…
Monocle Reads: Ben Arthur
Ben Arthur is a songwriter and producer who hosts and interviews notable literary figures on his podcast SongWriter, where he explores stories and “answer songs”. It’s now his turn to be interviewed.
Oyinkan Braithwaite
Award-winning Nigerian novelist Oyinkan Braithwaite burst onto the literary scene with her dark-comedy debut, ‘My Sister the Serial Killer’. She grew up between Lagos and London, also works as a graphic designer and champions the art of the spoken word.
Monocle Reads: Lahore Literary Festival 2020
We travel to the Alhamra Arts Center in Pakistan for the eighth edition of the annual Lahore Literary Festival. The three-day event hosted eminent writers, historians, artists and opinion-makers from Pakistan and abroad. Free and open to the public, the event featured, among others, Turkish Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk.
