Catherine Larner |

As a freelance journalist, writer, editor and presenter, I have enjoyed many years meeting and interviewing fascinating people, and visiting wonderful locations worldwide.

I regularly conduct on-stage interviews with authors and personalities at festivals and events, and for more than 10 years co-hosted a monthly on air book club with Lesley Dolphin at BBC Radio Suffolk.

Details of my events, book reviews and recommendations can be found on my website moreaboutbooks.com and all the latest information is available in my weekly e-newsletter which you can receive by signing up here or read recent issues here.

Or follow me on Twitter @catherinelarner

On the radio

For more than 10 years I've co-hosted an on-air book club on BBC Radio Suffolk with Lesley Dolphin. Listen to past book club discussions here.

In addition, my print articles and author interviews often feature as podcasts. You can listen to a recent interview with former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams for Premier Radio here.

view archive on moreaboutbooks.com

At events

Hosting book launches and talks for festivals and events throughout Suffolk, I regularly interview authors on stage with audiences from 30 to 300. In the past year I have been in conversation with Esther Freud, Salley Vickers, Simon Garfield, Susie Dent, Melissa Harrison and Elly Griffiths.

view event listings on moreaboutbooks.com

Recent articles

'The most fun I've had writing'

in 'Suffolk', October 2023

Suffolk author Helen Macdonald's new book is a sassy modern sci-fi fantasy thriller inspired partly by the county's US Air Force presence.

'We need to learn how to value water'

in 'Suffolk', October 2023

Felixstowe Hydrocycle is an innovative, ambitious scheme helping to secure Suffolk's water supplies and food production now and into the future.

Taking up the writing reins

in 'Suffolk', October 2023

Felix Francis grew up fully immersed in his famous father's racing and writing career. Now, after decades of doing just about anything else, he's created his own brand of 'Dick Francis' novel.

'I have to rediscover myself'

in 'Suffolk', September 2023

It's been a tumultuous few years for Richard Coles. Now, after radio, TV and the church, he's forging a new life as a writer of crime fiction.

When knights were bold

in 'Suffolk', September 2023

Toby Capwell is a leading expert on medieval knights. Living in Suffolk, he gets inside the minds of these brave men by wearing their armour.

'I want to give back to the people who have changed my life'

in 'Suffolk', September 2023

Maxine Reynolds' passion for Venetian rowing has brought Woodbridge Boatyard to the aid of Venice's ailing traditional boatbuilding industry.

Forthcoming events

The bestselling novelist, Victoria Hislop, author of 'The Island' and 'The Return' among many others, will be in conversation with Catherine Larner at this special lunchtime event, introducing her new book ‘The Figurine’.

Set once again in Victoria’s beloved Greece, this novel features Athens and the island of Nisos... and also a small town in Suffolk!

When Helena inherits her grandparents’ apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed with memories of the summers she spent there as a child. Greece then was under a brutal military dictatorship and her cruel grandfather was one of the regime’s generals.

Looking through her grandparents’ possessions, Helena discovers many valuable objects and antiquities and wonders how they were accumulated. At the same time she is exploring a growing passion for archaeology where she witnesses ancient artefacts being unearthed in the Greek islands.

This beautiful new novel invites us to feel the warmth and colour of Greece while shining a light on the questionable acquisition of cultural treasures and the price people, and countries, will pay to cling on to them.

‘I hope readers will be pulled into this period of history,’ says Victoria, ‘and the question of where something, or someone, really belongs.’

This promises to be a fascinating event celebrating a stunning novel which, once you start reading you won’t want to end!

Tickets are available from the Riverside, online or in person, priced £25 and include a signed copy of 'The Figurine' (RRP £25) presented on the day. One further ticket may be purchased for £12 (without the book).

Early bird tickets may be purchased before 20 September for £20.

Mellow fruitfulness

September has flown by, hasn't it, but we've got some exciting author events to take us through the autumn months, I hope you'll agree.

Tickets are now on sale at the Riverside Cinema for the visits by novelist Nicola Upson and tv presenter and farmer Adam Henson in November. Click here for details.

But don't delay if you're thinking of coming along to hear Victoria Hislop next month - tickets are selling fast. Her new book 'The Figurine' is released this week but your ticket to our event on Wednesday 18 October includes a copy of this fabulous novel, so it's great value!

Tomorrow it's our book group meeting, and it's the final time in the old format. If you haven't already been in touch but are thinking of coming along tomorrow or in the future, please can you reply to this email straightaway and I can let you know the arrangements going forward. Things aren't too different, but there are a few changes to mention.

Now, have you seen the shortlist for the Booker Prize? It's here, if you missed it.

In our Booker Book Challenge, I reported last week that we considered this year's longlist one of the most interesting and accessible of recent years and were very much looking forward to hearing which six titles the judges would put forward to the next stage.

It's a shame then, though perhaps not too much of a surprise, that the two most popular books didn't make it and the only two books which weren't enjoyed by our readers, did. And what about the fact that there were more authors named Paul on the shortlist than women?!

Thank you for reading.

In the press

On the radio

At events

Recent articles

Forthcoming events

Mellow fruitfulness

More about books