Meet the Writers
Georgina Godwin in conversation with top authors. Explore their inspirations, writing processes, and the stories behind their books.
Latest Episodes
Maggie O’Farrell
Ever longed to put on some white noise and encase yourself in a sensory deprivation bubble? This is one technique that helps Maggie O’Farrell achieve a polyphonic style of writing. One of the UK’s most assured, accomplished and inventive storytellers, Maggie O’Farrell has a brand new book out, ‘This Must…
Jesse Armstrong
“Difficult difficult lemon difficult.” Those words come from political satire ‘In The Loop’, co-written by Jesse Armstrong, one of the screenwriters behind comedy hits ‘Peep Show’, ‘Fresh Meat’ and feature film ‘Four Lions’. Now Armstrong has produced his first novel, ‘Love, Sex and other Foreign Policy Goals’. Without wanting to…
Hannah Rothschild
Imagine growing up as part of the Rothschild dynasty, surrounded by great art and great minds. Contrary to what some might think this family has had its struggles, namely the fight to reclaim its paintings from the Nazis. Hannah Rothschild, chair of London’s National Gallery, grew up heavily involved in…
Robin Dalton and Justin Cartwright
Former spy, film producer and 95-year-old doyenne of publishing Robin Dalton tells us about growing up in Sydney and Booker Prize nominee Justin Cartwright discusses his latest book ‘Up Against the Night’, and gives us his take on his birthplace of South Africa.
Alain de Botton
De Botton reclaimed the self-help genre in 2004 with ‘How Proust Can Change Your Life’ and has since written a stack of non-fiction books that attempt to philosophically unpick complex subjects. But his first book was a novel and now, 23 years later, he has released the sequel: an unromantic…
Joanne Harris
Few could resist the delicate indulgences of Joanne Harris’s debut novel ‘Chocolat’. The book was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film and Harris became an overnight success story. She’s gone on to write 14 more novels, two collections of short stories and three cookbooks, and has just published her latest book…
Dom Joly
Dom Joly, UK author, journalist and creator of comedy series ‘Trigger Happy TV’ bares all on his life and career. He talks about his troubles with anxiety, how he’s “so egotistical it’s insane” and his latest spontaneous purchase: a hot-air balloon.
Harlan Coben
With 60 million books in print, you might just have heard of the author on ‘Meet the Writers’ this week. Harlan Coben is a number-one bestseller in America, a superstar in France and Germany and a top-ten bestseller in hardcover and paperback in the UK. We ask what makes his…
London Book Fair
We join 25,000 visitors from more than 100 countries to take a behind-the-scenes look into the business of books at the London Book Fair. We hear from writers such as the creator of ‘Downton Abbey’ Julian Fellowes, as well as publishers, foreign-rights experts, printers and Monocle’s own publishing partner Gestalten.
Marc Adelman
Marc Adelman is our guest this week. A writer of a different sort, Marc gives us the lowdown on the inside of a US presidential campaign and tells us how he encourages those in the spotlight to say the right things – from Washington to Hollywood.
