Showing results for "Kit" in Art & Literature

Kit de Waal grew up in a household of opposites and extremes. Her haphazard mother rarely cooked, forbade Christmas and birthdays, worked as a cleaner, nurse and childminder sometimes all at once and believed the world would end in 1975. Meanwhile, her father stuffed barrels full of goodies for his relatives in the Caribbean, cooked elaborate meals on a whim and splurged money they didn't have on cars, suits and shoes fit for a prince. Both of her parents were waiting for paradise. It never came.

They say that the best thing to do with a debut novel is to write about something that you know. This is exactly what Kit de Waal has done. Kit has used her experience with the foster system in the UK to write her debut novel My Name is Leon. The audiobook version of the novel is narrated by none other than Lenny Henry, and Kit joins Robin Morgan at the Audible Studios to tell us all about it. This interview includes a clip of the audiobook.

Joining us at Audible Studios is author Kit de Waal. Growing up in poverty in Birmingham, de Waal was exposed to many challenges as a child. Being British, Irish and Caribbean, she experienced many aspects of racism, and her chaotic home life was both a comfort and a difficulty. We'll be talking with Kit de Waal about her newest book, a memoir titled Without Warning and Only Sometimes, and asking why she turned the lens on herself, how her love of reading began, and how it felt to have Armageddon hanging over her as a child.