Meet the Writers
530 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 17 ratingsWant 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.
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Episodes
John Wiseman
August 26, 2021 10:37 - 32.5 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to academic John Wiseman about his new book ‘Hope and Courage in the Climate Crisis: Wisdom and Action in the Long Emergency’, which draws on science, philosophy, indigenous cultures, spiritual traditions and more to inspire action as we face ecological calamity.
Sarfraz Manzoor
August 22, 2021 12:00 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to author, broadcaster and screenwriter Sarfraz Manzoor about his new book ‘They’, which examines divisions between white and Muslim communities in the UK and the possibility of a brighter future.
Deborah Moggach
August 19, 2021 16:00 - 33 MBGeorgina Godwin sits down with Deborah Moggach in the acclaimed author’s garden on the UK’s south coast to discuss her brilliant new novel, ‘The Black Dress’. It follows Pru, who becomes a serial funeral crasher in the hope of curing her loneliness after her husband leaves her out of the blue.
Monocle Reads: Deborah Moggach
August 19, 2021 16:00 - 24 minutes - 33 MBGeorgina Godwin sits down with Deborah Moggach in the acclaimed author’s garden on the UK’s south coast to discuss her brilliant new novel, ‘The Black Dress’. It follows Pru, who becomes a serial funeral crasher in the hope of curing her loneliness after her husband leaves her out of the blue.
Nicholas Royle
August 15, 2021 12:00 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBMany people describe themselves as book lovers but there is no doubt about Nicholas Royle’s devotion to the printed word. As a writer, editor and creative writing teacher, books are fundamental to his life. Georgina Godwin meets Royle to discuss his new book. ‘White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector’ is part memoir, part non-fiction and explores the secondhand shops that Royle used to build his 1,000-book collection of Picador fiction.
Monocle Reads: Saumya Roy
August 12, 2021 17:00 - 20 minutes - 28.5 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to journalist and activist Saumya Roy about her new book ‘Mountain Tales’, which tells the story of the garbage mountains of Mumbai and the waste pickers who spend their days on them.
Jarred McGinnis
August 08, 2021 12:00 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBJarred McGinnis is a debut novelist but he’s not new to the literary scene. His short fiction has appeared in journals in the UK and North America, and he has been commissioned for BBC Radio 4. His organisation The Special Relationship puts on events that experiment in live literature and it was chosen for the British Council’s International Literary Showcase. Georgina Godwin speaks to McGinnis about his new book ‘The Coward’, which fictionalises his own autobiography and the aftermath of the...
Monocle Reads: Ellen Wiles
August 05, 2021 16:00 - 22 minutes - 31.3 MBEllen Wiles is a novelist, anthropologist and curator, as well as a creative writing lecturer at The University of Exeter. Her 2017 debut novel ‘The Invisible Crowd’ was awarded the Victor Turner Prize for ethnographic writing and was a ‘Guardian’ book of the year. Ellen speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book ‘Live Literature’, which takes readers along to different in-person literary events, exploring why they have become so popular and what significance they have to literary culture.
Jessica Anya Blau
August 01, 2021 12:00 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBGeorgina Godwin talks to American novelist Jessica Anya Blau. Her hit novels have been featured on ‘The Today Show’, CNN and NPR, and in ‘Cosmopolitan’, ‘Vanity Fair’, ‘Bust’, ‘Time Out’, ‘Oprah Summer Reads’ and other national publications. Her most recent book, ‘Mary Jane’, is a coming-of-age story set in 1970s Baltimore.
Monocle Reads: Tharik Hussain
July 29, 2021 12:44 - 25 minutes - 34.5 MBTharik Hussain is a writer and journalist who has written travel guides for Lonely Planet and won awards for his BBC World Service radio documentary: ‘America’s Mosques: A Story of Integration’. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Minarets in the Mountains’, which took him and his family on a journey through the western Balkans to discover a version of Islam that’s less known in Europe.
William Green
July 25, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBWilliam Green knows a little more than most about how to stack the odds in your favour. His career as a financial journalist has seen him write for publications including ‘The New Yorker’, ‘Time’, ‘Fortune’, and ‘Forbes’. He has reported from all over the world and interviewed presidents, CEOs, billionaires, and investors. Georgina Godwin speaks to Green about his new book ‘Richer, Wiser, Happier’, which goes inside the lives of the world’s most successful investors to find out what lessons t...
Monocle Reads: Arifa Akbar
July 22, 2021 12:47 - 34.2 MBArifa Akbar is the chief theatre critic at ‘The Guardian’. A journalist for over 20 years, she previously held the position of literary editor at ‘The Independent’ and worked as an arts and news correspondent. She speaks with Georgina Godwin about her new memoir ‘Consumed’ which is a personal exploration of her own grief after her sister died at the age of 45 from tuberculosis. In this moving debut, Arifa explores illness, sisterhood, and the role of art in life and loss.
Lisa McInerney
July 18, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBGeorgina Godwin talks to Galway-born Lisa McInerney about her work and career, in which the city and people of Cork seem to have captured her heart. Her latest book, ‘The Rules of Revelation’, is the third in a series focusing on a range of loveable characters, each trying to find their way with the odds stacked against them.
Monocle Reads: Mary Ann Sieghart
July 15, 2021 12:07 - 33.4 MBBy now we are all aware of the pay gap between genders but what about the gaps that are harder to quantify? On this week’s ‘Monocle Reads’ Georgina Godwin speaks to journalist and academic Mary Ann Sieghart about her latest book ‘The Authority Gap’, which examines the disparity between men and women – one that can take different shapes but clearly permeates the lives of many women.
Tahmima Anam
July 11, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBTahmima Anam is a writer for publications including ‘The Guardian’, ‘New York Times’, and ‘New Statesman’, as well as a successful novelist. While her early novels painted detailed portraits of the Bangladesh war of independence through the eyes of one family, her new book transports us to the centre of the technology world. Georgina Godwin speaks to Anam about her new novel ‘The Startup Wife’ at Hay Festival in Wales.
Monocle Reads: Jonathan Crane
July 08, 2021 12:38 - 22.1 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to former musician and composer Jonathan Crane about his debut novel ‘We Need to Talk’. Told through a series of unexpected characters and their interconnected lives, the book paints a picture of Middle England on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lionel Shriver
July 04, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBLionel Shriver doesn’t shy away from controversy, and instead seems quite drawn to it. She rose to acclaim following the release of her novel ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ in 2003. Since then, she’s won the Orange prize for fiction and written for ‘The Wall Street Journal’, the ‘Financial Times’, and ‘The New York Times’. Shriver speaks with Georgina Godwin about her newest work ‘Should We Stay or Should We Go’, which explores different approaches to how we maintain our dignity in death with ...
Monocle Reads: Ciaran Thapar
July 01, 2021 12:42 - 30.4 MBCiaran Thapar is a London-based youth worker, activist and author who has written about social justice for publications such as ‘The Guardian’, ‘New Statesman’, and ‘GQ’. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his important new book ‘Cut Short: Youth Violence, Loss and Hope in the City’.
Alex Michaelides
June 27, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBAlex Michaelides’ debut novel ‘The Silent Patient’ was a huge hit, winning a Goodreads Choice award in 2019 and topping ‘The New York Times’ best seller list on its release. Now, Georgina Godwin talks to Alex about his new book, ‘The Maidens’, which is another psychological thriller, this time set in the eerie halls of Cambridge University.
Monocle Reads: Thomas Gommes
June 24, 2021 12:49 - 21.2 MBOn ‘Monocle Reads’ this week we speak to Thomas Gommes. A lawyer turned writer, he is the founder of World of Words Gstaad, a literature symposium taking place this weekend that hopes to be an international celebration of storytelling in all forms. Thomas speaks to Georgina Godwin about this weekend’s programme as well as his own short fiction writing.
Jane Thynne
June 20, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBJane Thynne is an accomplished historical novelist, but her newest book ‘Widowland’ diverges from her previous work. Georgina Godwin sits down with Thynne to discuss how she merged her personal experience of early widowhood with feminist dystopia, and why she’s decided to publish this book under a pseudonym.
Monocle Reads: Natasha Brown
June 17, 2021 12:03 - 19.2 MBNatasha Brown is a British writer. She studied Mathematics at Cambridge University before spending a decade working in the finance industry. In 2019 she received a London Writers Award in the literary fiction category and developed her novella ‘Assembly’, an exploration of class and race that follows a day in the life of a young black British woman. Natasha speaks to Georgina Godwin about her new book, one of the most exciting and well-received debuts of the year.
Rupert Thomson
June 13, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBGeorgina Godwin sits down with UK writer Rupert Thomson to discuss his life and career to date. In a long and fruitful writing career, Thomson has written 13 novels and a memoir, earning countless plaudits alongside awards such as the Writers’ Guild non-fiction book of the year. As well as longer-form writing, his work has featured in publications such as the ‘Financial Times’, ‘The Guardian’, and the ‘London Review of Books’. His new novel ‘Barcelona Dreaming’ is a story of addiction, racism...
Monocle Reads: André Aciman
June 10, 2021 12:25 - 20.9 MBAndré Aciman is a prolific author, best known for his best-selling novel and subsequent big-screen hit ‘Call Me by Your Name’, as well as being a professor of comparative literature at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. He speaks to Georgia Godwin about his latest collection of essays ‘Homo Irrealis’, which explores time, memory and the creative mind.
Fiona Mozley
June 06, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBFiona Mozley is arguably one of Britain’s most exciting young writers. The former bookseller catapulted to fame when her debut novel ‘Elmet’ was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It went on to earn plaudits across the board as well as winning the Somerset Maugham Award and the Polari First Book Prize. Her latest novel, ‘Hot Stew’, is a fascinating story that examines the difficulties of overdevelopment and gentrification in London through the lens of sex workers in Soho.
Monocle Reads: Isabel Costello
June 03, 2021 17:30 - 25.3 MBIsabel Costello is a British writer and aromatherapist with a lifelong love of France. She has been nominated for numerous awards for her short fiction writing and in 2016 she released her first novel, ‘Paris Mon Amour’. In this week’s Monocle Reads, Isabel speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book ‘Scent’, set in Paris and Provence, which follows a perfumer’s conflicting desires and intimate relationships.
Esther Freud
May 30, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBBritish writer Esther Freud’s first novel, ‘Hideous Kinky’, was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys prize and made into a film starring Kate Winslet. Following that, she went on to receive numerous awards and selected by ‘Granta’ as a best young British novelist selection. She has since gone on to write many books and plays and also teaches creative writing at the Faber Academy. She sits down with Georgina Godwin to discuss her life and latest book ‘I Couldn’t Love You More’, which explor...
Monocle Reads: Bennett Voyles
May 27, 2021 12:19 - 14.6 MBBennett Voyles is an American business writer and an avid walker based in Berlin. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Onwards, Backward! -or- A Ramble to Santiago’. It follows Bennett along with his wife and three teenage daughters as they attempt the 1,500-kilometre journey of both the French and Spanish legs of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.
Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich
May 23, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBSarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich opened their first restaurant, Honey & Co, in London in 2012. Since then they have become known for serving delicious Middle Eastern food using the best ingredients, all with an extremely warm welcome from one of the friendliest teams in town. Both originally from Israel, they sat down with Georgina Godwin to discuss their careers and latest book, ‘Chasing Smoke: Cooking over Fire Around the Levant’.
Monocle Reads: Hay on our post-coronavirus future
May 20, 2021 12:13 - 30.7 MBFor our last Monocle Reads episode with Hay festival, we look at how its programme explores our post-coronavirus future. Georgina Godwin speaks with Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates – who will lead a series of discussions at Hay around motherhood and the ways in which the pandemic has impacted it – and with award-winning writer and journalist Matthew D’Ancona who discusses his latest book ‘Identity, Ignorance, Innovation: Why the old politics is useless – and what to do about it’.
Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim
May 16, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBMai Thi Nguyen-Kim is a chemist and science journalist. During her doctoral studies at Harvard, she started the Youtube channel The Secret Life of Scientists, which marked the start of her mission to “infect” people with a love of science. She lives in Germany, where she hosts a national TV series on science and produces the Youtube channel Mailab. Her book ‘Chemistry for Breakfast’ has been on the Spiegel bestseller list since November 2019.
Monocle Reads: Hay on George Floyd, one year on
May 13, 2021 12:52 - 34.7 MBGeorge Floyd: One Year On is a series of events curated by Lemn Sissay as part of this year’s Hay Festival. Georgina Godwin explores the series with Sissay and two of the speakers taking part, author Maaza Mengiste and political commentator and activist Ash Sarkar.
Suzanne Heywood
May 09, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBSuzanne Heywood made her name in the corporate world, with stints at McKinsey and now CNH Industrial. Her latest book, ‘What Does Jeremy Think? Jeremy Heywood and the Making of Modern Britain’, details the life of her late husband, a former head of the Home Civil Service. It combines the emotion of a biography with a look at a man considered to be the beating heart of UK politics.
Monocle Reads: Hay on democracy
May 06, 2021 18:26 - 29.3 MBPM300 is a series of panels exploring issues of leadership and democracy at the 34th spring edition of the Hay festival. It marks the 300th anniversary of Britain appointing its first prime minister. To find out more about the series, Georgina Godwin speaks to author and PM300 panellist, Carole Walker, as well as chief of staff at Hay and organiser of the series, Adrian Lambert.
Matthew Kneale
May 02, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBBritish writer Matthew Kneale has been based in Rome for the best part of 20 years. Born in London to a family of writers, he studied at Oxford and taught english in Japan before embarking on his own writing career, during which he’s published seven novels, including the Booker-shortlisted ‘English Passengers’, and three works of non-fiction. His latest book, ‘The Rome Plague Diaries: Lockdown Life in the Eternal City’, is an unflinching look at the Italian capital during its shutdown last year.
Hay-on-Earth on Monocle Reads
April 29, 2021 12:44 - 25.2 MBThis week we continue exploring the programme of the upcoming Hay Festival with a closer look at Hay-on-Earth, a series of 22 events exploring the latest environmental science, sustainable policies and creative responses to the climate crisis. Georgina Godwin talks with two of the writers speaking as part of Hay-on-Earth; author and scientist Jonathan Drori tells us about his book ‘Around the World in 80 Plants’ and Imbolo Mbue, best-selling author of ‘Beloved Dreams’, speaks to us about her ...
Olivia Laing
April 25, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBOlivia Laing is an acclaimed writer, critic and fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She has written a novel as well as numerous works of non-fiction. The latest is ‘Everybody: A Book about Freedom’, which charts the struggle for bodily freedom.
Monocle Reads: Hay Festival
April 22, 2021 12:00 - 32 MBHay Festival has just announced the programme for its 34th spring edition, a digital event broadcasting some of the world’s greatest writers and thinkers from the small town of Hay-on-Wye. To get an overview, we hear from chair of the festival Caroline Michel, as well as two of the writers speaking: award-winning author Jon McGregor and hugely successful debut novelist Hafsa Zayyan.
Terri White
April 18, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBGeorgina Godwin talks to Terri White, the award-winning magazine editor and current editor-in-chief of ‘Empire’ magazine. From the outside it seemed as though she was living the dream but this could not have been further from the truth. Her book ‘Coming Undone’ is a deeply compelling and brutally honest memoir touching on mental health, alcoholism, imposter syndrome and child sexual abuse.
Monocle Reads: Robin Dunbar
April 15, 2021 12:17 - 29.9 MBRobin Dunbar is an anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist. Alongside his research he is a prolific author, publishing numerous books across academic and popular science. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships’.
Polly Samson
April 11, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBPolly Samson is a UK novelist and lyricist best known for writing the lyrics to seven tracks on Pink Floyd’s hit album, ‘The Division Bell’. The former journalist has written a number of critically acclaimed short stories and novels, the latest of which is ‘A Theatre for Dreamers’, a story of discovery set against the beautiful backdrop of Hydra, the Greek island fabled for its hedonism in the 1960s. The book was widely hailed as one of the best novels of 2020.
Monocle Reads: Anna Lyons & Louise Winter
April 08, 2021 12:09 - 28.5 MBProgressive funeral director Louise Winter and end-of-life doula Anna Lyons are behind Life Death Whatever, an initiative that aims to rethink conversations around death. They speak to Georgina Godwin about their thoughtful new book ‘We All Know How This Ends: Lessons about life and living from working with death and dying’.
Monique Roffey
April 04, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBMulti-award-winning writer and memoirist Monique Roffey was born in Trinidad and educated in the UK. She has won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and claimed the 2020 Costa Book of the Year award for her recent novel, ‘The Mermaid of Black Conch’. Roffey also teaches the next generation of writers as a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Monocle Reads: Jessie Greengrass
April 01, 2021 12:28 - 19.1 MBJessie Greengrass is a rising star in British literature. She has won numerous awards and her debut novel ‘Sight’ was shortlisted for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book ‘The High House’, which explores the difficult realities of living through climate change.
Michela Wrong
March 28, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBGeorgina Godwin speaks to former foreign correspondent for Reuters, the BBC and ‘The Financial Times’, Michela Wrong. Reporting predominantly from Africa, she covered post-genocide Rwanda and the last days of the Mobutu dictatorship as well as numerous other stories across the continent. She has also written a number of books across both fiction and non-fiction, including her Pen prize-winning debut on Mobutu, ‘In the Footsteps of Kurtz’, and Orwell prize-shortlisted ‘It’s our turn to eat’. H...
Monocle Reads: Failures of State
March 25, 2021 12:09 - 34.1 MBJonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnott are journalists at the award-winning ‘Sunday Times’ investigative platform Insight. They speak to Georgina Godwin about their new book ‘Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle with Coronavirus’, a damning expose of the ineptitudes of Boris Johnson and his government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Naomi Ishiguro
March 21, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBNaomi Ishiguro is one of the most exciting new writers to emerge in Britain in the past few years and daughter of the Nobel and Booker prize-winning author of the same name. Her debut novel ‘Common Ground’ proves that talent definitely runs in the family. She spoke to Georgina Godwin about growing up in a literary household, and dissects the themes of belonging, friendship, and identity that run through her delightful first book.
Monocle Reads: Delphine Horvilleur
March 18, 2021 12:38 - 28 MBDelphine Horvilleur is France’s third-ever female rabbi. She leads a Jewish congregation in Paris and co-leads the Liberal Jewish Movement of France. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book ‘Anti-Semitism Revisited: How the Rabbis Made Sense of Hatred’.
Peter Oborne
March 14, 2021 12:00 - 41.2 MBPeter Oborne has had a long and distinguished career in British journalism, including stints at ‘The Spectator’, ‘The Daily Mail’ and most notably as former chief political commentator of ‘The Daily Telegraph’. As well as presenting Channel 4’s flagship investigative show ‘Dispatches’, he has also written numerous books on topics from the Middle East to cricket. He discusses his latest book ‘The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism’.
Monocle Reads: Molly McCully Brown
March 11, 2021 12:39 - 27.5 MBMolly McCully Brown is a writer, poet and essayist. Her work has featured across a variety of high-profile publications, including ‘The Paris Review’, ‘The New York Times’ and ‘The Yale Review’, and she has been the recipient of a number of prestigious scholarships, including the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. She talks to Georgina Godwin about her latest essay collection ‘Places I’ve Taken My Body’, which explores living within and beyond the limits of your body.