Maggie O'Farrell
Author Maggie O'Farrell talks to John Wilson about the influences that have shaped her writing.
Maggie O鈥橣arrell is the author of nine novels. Her debut, After You鈥檇 Gone, was published 25 years ago this year and won the Betty Trask Prize in 2001. Her 2010 book The Hand That First Held Mine won the Costa Novel Award; and Hamnet, her hugely acclaimed and bestselling story of the death of Shakespeare鈥檚 son, won the 2020 Women鈥檚 Prize for fiction. Maggie O鈥橣arrell has also written a memoir; I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death.
Maggie tells John Wilson about some of her creative influences including the Finnish writer Tove Jansson, whose book Moominland Midwinter she first read at the age of eight when she was ill in bed, suffering from encephalitis. The poet Michael Donaghy gave Maggie valuable writing advice when she attended his poetry workshops at City University and inspired her with his recitations of poetry from memory. Maggie also reveals how seeing a David Hockney photomontages called The Scrabble Game hugely influenced the way she constructs narrative and time-frame in her novels.
Producer: Edwina Pitman
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- Thu 10 Apr 2025 11:00成人快手 Radio 4
- Sat 12 Apr 2025 19:15成人快手 Radio 4
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