Monocle 24: Meet the Writer‪s‬ Monocle

Afonso Cruz has written more than 30 books, plays, young-adult novellas, essays and novels, including ‘Kokoschka’s Doll’, which won the EU Prize for Literature. His subsequent books have also found success: ‘Jesus Christ Drank Beer’ was Time Out Lisbon’s best Portuguese novel of the year; ‘Where do Umbrellas End Up’ won the 2014 Portuguese Society for Authors award. Cruz is also a columnist, illustrator, animated-film director and member of the band The Soaked Lamb.

Bonnie Kemske is an artist, writer and former editor of ‘Ceramic Review’. Born in Okinawa but raised in the US, she studied the Zen Buddhist artform of Chanoyu in Japan before undertaking a PhD at the Royal College of Art, becoming a ceramicist and researcher. She speaks to Georgina Godwin about her latest book, ‘Kintsugi: The Poetic Mend’, which explores the unique tradition of repairing pottery with a visible, often gold-leaf-covered join.

Georgina Godwin speaks to celebrated Australian writer and broadcaster Richard Fidler, best known for presenting ‘Conversations’ on ABC Radio, which is one of the most popular podcasts in the country. Having also forged a successful writing career, Fiddler’s latest book, ‘The Golden Maze’, is about the fascinating history of Prague.

Caleb Azumah Nelson is a writer and photographer from southeast London. He has been published in literary magazines such as ‘Litro’ and ‘Granta’, and was named by ‘The Observer’ as one of the 10 best debut novelists of the year. He was also shortlisted for the 2020 BBC National Short Story Prize. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his eagerly anticipated debut ‘Open Water’.

Florence de Changy’s recently released book ‘The Disappearing Act’ charts the disappearance of flight MH370, which took off from Kuala Lumpur heading for Beijing on 8 March, 2014, and was never, apparently, seen again. The French journalist spent seven years investigating this story and compiling a wealth of evidence to support her theory of what actually happened that day.

Eliot Higgins is the founder of investigative journalism website Bellingcat. Founded in 2014, Bellingcat has revealed crucial details in stories including the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, chemical weapons in Syria and the Skripal poisonings. He speaks to Georgina Godwin about his new book ‘We are Bellingcat: An Intelligence Agency for the People’.