Showing results for "Andrew" in Authors

Sportsman, womanizer, naval commander, world-traveler, spy, this suave Old Etonian creator of the Cold War's archetypal secret agent was infinitely more complicated and interesting than his major fictional character, Agent 007.

Joining us in the Audible Studios to talk about his latest book of verse, Essex Clay, is lauded British poet, biographer and novelist Andrew Motion. Andrew Motion was the former President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009. His career has seen him publish numerous collections of award-winning poetry, including Natural Causes (1987) and Dangerous Play (1984), and his revered biography, In the Blood. June 2018 saw Motion publish his second biographical sequence, Essex Clay.

Joining us at a riverside London hotel is Dame Julie Andrews, DBE, an English actress, singer and author. She has now released her second memoir, Home Work. Born in Surrey in 1935, Andrews parents divorced and she originally lived with her father, then moved back to live with her mother and stepfather. Her stepfather was turbulent, but he sponsored her voice lessons, and from 1945 Andrews began performing with her mother and stepfather unbilled.

The combined talents of Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall have had a large influence on British television. With Grant being the cocreator of Red Dwarf and former head writer of Spitting Image and Marshall responsible for 2point4children, Dad and Health & Efficiency, it seems only natural that they would team up for a radio series and novel collaboration with The Quanderhorn Xperimentations, a period sci-fi fantasy published in 2018. Rob Grant and Andrew Marshall talk to us about their latest novel spin-off, the inspiration behind it and what it’s like to write in partnership.

It is customary, when referring to the life and work of a poet, to speak in academic terms. But with Jalal-ud-Din Rumi, this custom does not apply. His direct and indirect influence on both our spiritual lives and world literature over the past seven centuries has been immeasurable. Not only does his writing continue to set sales records, he is also remembered as the founder of Mevlevi Sufism—the whirling dervishes—whose followers in this century have numbered in the millions.

This is a book about ten women over the past three hundred years who have found walking essential to their sense of themselves, as people and as writers. Wanderers traces their footsteps, from eighteenth-century parson's daughter Elizabeth Carter—who desired nothing more than to be taken for a vagabond in the wilds of southern England—to modern walker-writers such as Nan Shepherd and Cheryl Strayed.

In Ernesto, Andrew Feldman uses his unprecedented access to newly available archives to tell the full story of Hemingway’s self-professed Cuban-ness: his respect for Cojímar fishermen, his long-running affair with a Cuban lover, the warmth of his adoptive Cuban family, the strong influences on his work by Cuban writers, his connections to Cuban political figures and celebrities, his denunciation of American imperial ambitions, and his enthusiastic role in the revolution.

For more than 70 years, Gifford's Ice Cream and Candy Company was associated with nothing but pleasure for native Washingtonians and visitors to the nation's capital. But behind the iconic business's happy facade lay elaborate schemes, a crushing bankruptcy, two million dollars of missing cash, and a tragic suicide. As the last Gifford heir unfolds his story with remarkable immediacy and candor, he reveals the byzantine betrayals and intrigue rooted in the company from its modest beginnings - dark influences that would ultimately destroy the legendary Gifford business.

A major poet, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) was one of the first African American writers to garner international recognition in the wake of emancipation. In this definitive biography, the first full-scale life of Dunbar in half a century, Gene Andrew Jarrett offers a revelatory account of a writer whose Gilded Age celebrity as the "poet laureate of his race" hid the private struggles of a man who, in the words of his famous poem, felt like a "caged bird" that sings.

Lord Byron was the most celebrated of all the Romantic poets. Troubled, handsome, sexually fluid, disabled, and transgressive, he wrote his way to international fame—and scandal—before finding a kind of redemption in the Greek Revolution. He also left behind the vast trove of thrilling letters (to friends, relatives, lovers, and more) that form the core of this remarkable biography.

Andrew O'Neill, a man of many talents - comedian, musician, presenter and writer - visits the Audible Studios to talk about his deep passion for heavy metal. From household band names to the history of heavy metal music through the ages, The History of Heavy Metal not only charts his own personal journey with music but the exciting figures who inspired him on the way. Andrew gives us an intense history lesson through a witty commentary of what heavy metal music is, examining the subculture and the characters who shaped this most misunderstood genre of music.

Upon its release in 1992, Andrew Morton's most famous biography, Diana: Her True Story - In Her Own Words, shook the British Establishment and caused a media frenzy for exposing secrets of the royal family and its candid exploration of the life of Diana, The Princess of Wales. It became an international best seller and has since been translated into 37 languages. Andrew Morton visits the Audible Studios to discuss its audiobook release and the effect the book has had on his life.

In September 1769, 3,000 people descended on Stratford-upon-Avon to celebrate the artistic legacy of the town's most famous son, William Shakespeare. Attendees included the rich and powerful, the fashionable and the curious, eligible ladies and fortune hunters, and a horde of journalists and profiteers. For three days, they paraded through garlanded streets, listened to songs and oratorios, and enjoyed masked balls. It was a unique cultural moment - a coronation elevating Shakespeare to the throne of genius. Except it was a disaster....

The world is never done catching up with Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), the author of Walden, “Civil Disobedience,” and other classics. A prophet of environmentalism and vegetarianism, an abolitionist, and a critic of materialism and technology, Thoreau even seems to have anticipated a world of social distancing in his famous experiment at Walden Pond. In Now Comes Good Sailing, 27 of today’s leading writers offer wide-ranging original pieces exploring how Thoreau has influenced and inspired them.

Joining us in the Audible Studios to discuss his latest biography, Meghan: A Hollywood Princess, is international best-selling writer and journalist Andrew Morton. Gaining notoriety from his highly acclaimed biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, published in 1992, Andrew Morton has solidified himself as the go-to biographer for celebrities and royals alike. His latest book is on Hollywood actress and future Duchess Meghan Markle. Andrew Morton talks to us about his latest title, including what people might find surprising about Markle and what he learnt about her relationship with Prince Harry.

Avoid the Day has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher...

Looking for a thrilling podcast to add to your listening list? Look no further than TheThrillerZone.com. Hosted by David Temple, a former radio personality with over twenty-five years of experience creating #1 morning shows in major US cities, this weekly hour-long podcast features captivating interviews with the world’s best thriller, mystery, and suspense fiction writers, as well as writers and creators for both television and film.

Famous fans choose their favourite writers for BBC Radio 4's Great Lives. For 20 years, Great Lives has been a cornerstone of the Radio 4 schedules, presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and Matthew Parris. Each week, a well-known personality is invited to select someone who has inspired them. They then discuss the 'Great Life' with the presenter and a guest expert to decide whether their hero really merits the accolade.

Did you know that Enid Blyton very nearly became a professional musician rather than an author? Or that it was the secret passageway and haunted room in a house in which she stayed that inspired her to write so many wonderful stories? But why did she hate her mother so much? And what was she like at school? This fascinating audiobook contains more than 100 facts about the well-loved children’s author, with each chapter focusing on a different element of her life and work.

In this audiobook, narrator Kent Harris talks us through over 100 amazing facts covering subjects such as Austen’s life, her works, notable adaptations and much more. Whether you’re studying Jane Austen for a project or are simply interested in finding out more about the ever-popular creator of the romantic novel, this is the perfect audiobook for you.