Meet the Writers
Georgina Godwin in conversation with top authors. Explore their inspirations, writing processes, and the stories behind their books.
Latest Episodes
Michael Morpurgo
Michael Morpurgo is a multi-award-winning, bestselling author, known for his children’s books, notably ‘War Horse’. A former Children’s Laureate, he’s written more than 100 titles, as well as screenplays and libretti for opera. Morpurgo’s work often tackles social issues; his most recent book, ‘Boy Giant’, is based on ‘Gulliver’s Travels’…
Monocle Reads: Eva Vonk
In the ecological wonderland of the Congo Basin, the remote Odzala-Kokoua National Park remains at odds with a rapidly changing world. Georgina Godwin speaks to Eva Vonk about her book “Congo Tales”, which began as a call to action to save the second-largest tropical forest in the world, and documents…
Daniel Rachel
Want to know more about the authors behind your favourite books? Tune in to discover the methods of – and inspiration behind – some of the world’s most exciting writers. Every Saturday, Georgina Godwin hosts an in-depth discussion with the person behind the prose.
Monocle Reads: Alwyn Turner
Some of Alwyn Turner’s finest books are a series of in-depth looks into modern British history, where he explores the social, political and cultural issues of each decade. ‘A Classless Society: Britain in the 1990s’ is his most recent effort, exploring everything from Tony Blair to Britpop.
Fatima Bhutto
Georgina Godwin speaks to Fatima Bhutto about her book ‘New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi and K-pop’, a look at how US cultural dominance is being challenged.
Monocle Reads: Stig Abell
The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction announces its shortlist of six – five of whom are women. Stig Abell, chair of the judges and editor of The Times Literary Supplement, talks to Georgina Godwin about the importance of the female gaze, the role of empathy in literature and how, in…
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.
Monocle Reads: Tom Phillips
Discussing the so-called ‘post-truth’ culture, Tom Phillips, editor of independent fact-checking organisation Full Fact, tells Monocle Reads how humans have treated truth throughout history and identifies habits that encourage our tale-twisting tendencies.
Booker prize special: Bernardine Evaristo
We talk to the chair of the Booker prize judges about the controversial decision to split this year’s award between two writers: Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo. Evaristo herself tells us all about her career and winning book, ‘Girl, Woman, Other’.
Monocle Reads: Richard Davies
Former economics editor at ‘The Economist’, Richard Davies also served as advisor to the chancellor. His book ‘Extreme Economies’ explores life at the world’s margins. He travelled thousands of miles and interviewed 500 people to examine how humans and markets adapt to their environments, no matter how varied.
