#182

Simon and Rachel speak with the novelist and biographer Nicholas Shakespeare. He began his career as a journalist, working for the Times and the Telegraph, before turning to book-writing in the 1980s. His debut novel, "The Vision of Elena Silves" (www.nicholassh...) (1989), won the Somerset Maugham Award; "The Dancer Upstairs" (www.nicholassh...) was named the best novel of 1995 by the American Libraries Association and a film adaptation was directed by John Malkovich. "The High Flyer" (www.nicholassh...) (1993) and "Snowleg" (www.nicholassh...) (2004) were both longlisted for the Booker Prize. His non-fiction work includes an acclaimed biography of the English travel writer Bruce Chatwin (www.nicholassh...) . We spoke to Nicholas about his early life and living all over the world, combining novels and non-fiction, and his new biography (www.nicholassh...) of James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
“Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World’s Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is published by Ithaka Press. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Hatchards⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠.
You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠ (alwaystakenotes...) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Our crowdfunding page is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/alwaystakenotes⁠⁠⁠ ( / alwaystakenotes ) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.