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: ‘The Universe Speaks in Numbers’
Graham Farmelo is an award-winning science writer and biographer, and the author of ‘The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Maths Reveals Nature’s Deepest Secrets’.
Toby Faber
The independent publishing house Faber & Faber, which has been going for 90 years, remains at the forefront of British literature – producing Nobel laureates and Booker prizewinners, some of our finest poets and one of the best loved and longest running musicals in the world, ‘Cats’. Toby Faber is…
Monocle Reads: ‘Extraordinary Insects’
This week the UN told us that we’re facing a biodiversity crisis. Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson is a Norwegian conservation biologist and knows all about this. Her book ‘Extraordinary Insects: Weird. Wonderful. Indispensable. The ones who run our world’ is a bestseller in Norway and has been translated into more than 20…
Sisonke Msimang
Sisonke Msimang is one of the most exciting contemporary female black voices in literature. Her family is originally from South Africa where they were involved with founding the ANC. She writes beautifully on race, gender and democracy. As all eyes turn towards the South African elections she talks about growing…
Carlo Pizzati and Tishani Doshi
This husband and wife are both award winners: he’s a journalist and author from Italy, she’s an Indian poet, dancer and novelist. Both have new books out, centred around their home on the coast at Tamil Nadu – but the themes couldn’t be more different: from a light romp through…
Zawe Ashton
Ashton is an actor best known for her role in ‘Fresh Meat’; she’s also a director, producer, screenwriter, playwright, editor, presenter and, now, a published author. Her debut book, ‘Character Breakdown’, is described as a work of fiction – but mostly fact. It provides an insight into red-carpet appearances, race…
Ben Elton
Ben Elton defined alternative comedy for a generation. He is a stand-up comedian, multi-award-winning novelist, playwright, screenwriter and lyricist. He is also a theatre, screen and television director and, very occasionally, an actor. Some of his most notable work is as a writer on ‘The Young Ones’, ‘Blackadder’ and the…
Sir Tim Waterstone
Waterstone utterly changed the cultural landscape in Britain by opening bookshops staffed by book lovers on most major high streets in the country. Knighted for his contribution to charity as well as publishing, he’s also written four novels, a business book and has now produced a memoir.
James Runcie
Son of a former archbishop of Canterbury, Runcie is author of 11 books including ‘The Grantchester Mysteries,’ a series of crime-fiction stories that are now a major television series. We ask him if he believes in God.
Live edition: Elif Shafak and Fatima Bhutto
For a special airing of the show we are live from Marylebone’s Daunt Books, in conversation with two inspiring novelists.
