February 6, 2019 - 10:06am by Anonymous

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

In the press

Magazine cover pagesAs a journalist I contribute lifestyle features and profiles for regional and national newspapers and magazines. Earlier in my career, I was the launch editor of what became the leading business journal for the fitness industry in Europe, and I regularly contributed articles about the market for a US publication.

published articles

On the radio

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

In addition, my print articles and author interviews often feature as podcasts. You can listen to an 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. I have been in conversation with Esther Freud, Salley Vickers, Victoria Hislop, Rev Richard Coles, Elly Griffiths and Patrick Gale (pictured).

view event listings on moreaboutbooks.com

Recent articles

Finding himself in Framlingham
in 'Suffolk', September 2024
The actor, Toby Jones, is coming to Suffolk for the Flipside Festival at the end of this month. Here, he shares his love for the town and the impact of what is turning out to be the role of his lifetime.
How Suffolk bewitched Erica James and inspired her latest novel
in 'Suffolk', September 2024
Popular novelist Erica James has embraced her Suffolk home. But be careful what you say to her - it might end up in her next novel.
The return of make do and mend
in 'Suffolk', September 2024
TV's The Repair Shop is much loved. But in cafes across Suffolk, we are offering tea, cakes and some fixer-upping of our own.
A new chapter in the FolkEast story
in 'Suffolk', August 2024
The much-loved festival has a final fling at Glemham Hall before moving to a new site in 2025.
The book that changed my life
in 'Suffolk', August 2024
Far from her Suffolk home, on the other side of the world, Esther Rutter suffered a mental breakdown. Poets came to her rescue and now she's rebuilding her life as a successful author.
Drawn to the shore
in 'Coast', August 2024
Printmaker Angela Harding tells Catherine Larner how her love of the sea inspires her stunning linocut pictures.

A new term

Today is officially the first day of autumn (meteorologically speaking).

And next week the schools go back.

And that can feel as though we're set for a rapid descent into the end of the year...

But the new term also signals a fresh start. It's a time to get down to business again after the summer break (whether or not we got away).

It's an opportunity to think of goals, ambitions and resolutions but with less pressure than January's New Year ritual.

And it's also a time, for me, to have a bit of a purge, a 'spring' clean in order to refocus on what is important.

However, in ransacking the wardrobe and the attic, I've been confronted with memories so I'm finding myself looking backwards instead of forwards!

This has coincided with some research I've been doing for a magazine article - about typewriters.

When I was at journalism college we were still using portable typewriters, but it wasn't long before they became completely redundant and cast aside.

Now, in the past 10 years, they have had a resurgence and particularly with journalists, scriptwriters and novelists who are eager to steer away from the distractions of websites, emails, and the all-too-easy delete button of computers. It seems many of them are finding their creativity is best channelled through using the manual typewriter, a machine invented 200 years ago.

For all the speed and efficiency of technology, there are some things that cannot be replicated - we prefer holding a book and turning its pages with our fingers; we want to take a record out of its sleeve and place it on a turntable; and we like to hear the metal keys of a mechanical machine pounding onto the page.

I wonder which of the authors in this year's Booker longlist use a typewriter? Perhaps we'll find out in tomorrow night's discussion. I'll let you know!

Thank you for reading.

More about books

Catherine LarnerFor my book reviews, event information and blog, please visit moreaboutbooks.com