December 06, 2023

Paul King on directing Wonka, Best non-fiction books of 2023, British pop art artist Pauline Boty

42 minutes

Paddington director Paul King returns with Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role. He talks with Samira about exploring the backstory of Willy Wonka and Roald Dahl’s surprising vision for fiction’s greatest confectioner.

Front Row rounds up the best non-fiction books of 2023 with Caroline Sanderson - non-fiction books editor for The Bookseller and chair of judges for the Baillie Gifford Prize in 2022, Stephanie Merritt - critic and novelist, and John Mitchinson - cofounder of Unbound, the independent crowdfunding publisher and co-presenter of literary podcast, Backlisted.

The extraordinary work of the artist Pauline Boty (1938 – 1966) is explored by the curator of a new exhibition, Mila Askarova, and the art historian Lynda Nead.

Presenter Samira Ahmed

Producer: Paula McGrath

Front Row non-fiction recommendations for 2023

Toy Fights: A Boyhood by Don Patterson published by Faber and Faber

Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art, Life and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming published by Chatto & Windus

How To Say Babylon: A Jamaican Memoir by Safiya Sinclair published by Fourth Estate

Twelve Words for Moss by Elizabeth-Jane Burnett published by Allen Lane

The British Year in 72 Seasons by Kiera Chapman, Rowan Jaines, Lulah Ellgender and Rebecca Warren published by Granta

Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside by Rebecca Smith published by William Collins

High Caucasus: A Mountain Quest in Russia's Haunted Hinterland by Tom Parfitt published by Headline

Eve: How The Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon published by Hutchinson Heinemann

Shakespeare’s Book: The Intertwined Lives Behind the First Folio by Chris Laoutaris published by Williams Collins

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By BBC Radio 4

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