Only Artists

The theatre producer and writer David Lan meets the composer Nico Muhly. David Lan was the artistic director of the Young Vic in London for 18 years, winning the special Olivier Award in 2018 for his outstanding contribution to the stage. Born in South Africa, he trained as an actor, and then gained PhD in social anthropology, before working as a writer and director. Nico Muhly has written more than 80 works, including the opera Marnie, staged by English National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, including Philip Glass and Bjork, and his recent work for the screen includes the score for the BBC TV drama Howards End. Three of his compositions have inspired new dance works, currently being performed at Sadlers Wells.

Lavinia Greenlaw has published six collections of poetry, including The Built Moment which reflected on her father’s dementia. Her novels include In the City of Love’s Sleep, about a relationship sparked by a chance encounter in a museum. She also writes about art and music, including a book on how pop shaped her young identity. She was the first artist in residence at the Science Museum, and her immersive sound work, Audio Obscura, won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. Charles Avery grew up on the island of Mull. For more than 15 years, he has worked on a single project – the invention of an imaginary island, creating its people, settlements, landscapes, forests and creatures through paint, sculpture and text. The main town is called Onomatopoeia, and it’s rumoured that the island is home to an elusive beast called the Noumenon. Producer Clare Walker

The saxophonist Jess Gillam meets the bass guitarist Gail Ann Dorsey. In 2016 Jess Gillam became the first-ever saxophonist to reach the final of the BBC Young Musician competition, and in 2018 she was a soloist at the Last Night of the Proms. Her debut album Rise topped the UK classical charts. She also presents This Classical Life on BBC Radio 3. Gail Ann Dorsey was a member of David Bowie’s band from 1995 until his death. She would often duet with him on stage, including taking the part originally performed by Freddie Mercury on Under Pressure. She has released three solo albums and has worked with a wide range of artists, including Tears for Fears, Boy George and Charlie Watts. Producer Clare Walker

The playwright Simon Stephens meets Simon Armitage. the Poet Laureate. Simon Stephens has created more than 30 works for the theatre. They include original dramas, such as Punk Rock, set in the library of a Stockport school, new versions of plays by Chekhov and Ibsen, and the highly successful stage adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which won the Olivier Award for the best new play, and the Tony Award for the best play on Broadway. Simon Armitage is the current national Poet Laureate, a role he began in May 2019. He published his first full-length collection of poems, Zoom!, in 1989. Since then has published more than a dozen volumes of poetry, along with fiction, an acclaimed translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, works for theatre, film, television and radio, and a book about of his love of pop music, and his band The Scaremongers. Producer Clare Walker

The painter Chantal Joffe meets the writer Olivia Laing. Chantal Joffe was Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy of Arts until 2019, and is renowned for her bold, large-scale portraits of women, and for her self-portraits. She has won the Charles Wollaston Award for the 'most distinguished work' in the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition, chosen from more than 1300 entries. In 2018 she set herself the challenge of creating a self-portrait every day. Olivia Laing's books include The Lonely City, a reflection on what it means to be alone, which has been translated into 17 languages and sold over 100,000 copies, and The Trip to Echo Spring, which focuses on the connections between creativity and alcohol. Her novel Crudo, set in the summer of 2017, was widely acclaimed and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 2019. Producer: Clare Walker

The artist Helen Cammock meets the dramatist Suhayla El-Bushra. Helen Cammock’s work explores social history through film, photography and performance. She won the Max Mara Prize last year and is nominated for this year’s Turner prize for her film The Long Note, which focuses on the role of women in the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. Suhayla El-Bushra has written extensively for TV including episodes of Hollyoaks and Ackley Bridge. Her plays include The Arabian Nights for the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, and she has also written for the National Theatre. She is currently adapting the novel The Long Song by Andrea Levy. Producer: Clare Walker

Roddy Doyle is the author of 11 novels including The Commitments, which was adapted into a successful film and stage musical, The Snapper, and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, which won the Booker Prize. His most recent novel, Smile, focuses on institutional abuse at a Christian Brothers secondary school, and draws on his own experiences. Antony Gormley is best known for the giant Angel of the North near Gateshead. His work can also be seen at Crosby Beach on Merseyside, where 100 cast-iron figures stand looking out to sea. His current exhibition, at the Royal Academy in London, includes a work called Clearing, which fills a gallery with 8 km of aluminium tube, and Host, which floods another with earth and seawater. Producer Clare Walker

The artist Katie Paterson meets the novelist David Mitchell. Katie Paterson is an award-winning artist whose conceptual works have included the sounds of melting glaciers and a map of 27,000 dead stars. She also sent a meteorite back into space. An exhibition of her work can be seen at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art until May 2020. The best-selling author David Mitchell has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize twice – for number9dream and Cloud Atlas. Next year he will publish his ninth novel. Photo © Brendan McNeill Producer Katy Hickman

The composer Max Richter meets the artist Tacita Dean. Max Richter has composed eight solo albums including The Blue Notebooks, Vivaldi Recomposed and Sleep, an eight and half hour long exploration into nocturnal neuroscience. His music has been used extensively in film, television, dance, opera and theatre. Tacita Dean captures landscapes, the sea, clouds, solar eclipses, portraits and still life in paint, chalk and film. She works primarily in film and has fought for the survival of 16 and 35mm film production and processing. Producer: Clare Walker

The costume designer Sandy Powell meets the art director and set-designer Simon Costin. Sandy has 14 Academy Award nominations, including two this year for The Favourite and Mary Poppins Returns. She has won three Oscars - for Shakespeare in Love, The Aviator and The Young Victoria - and has worked extensively with Martin Scorsese, most recently on The Irishman. Simon works with leading fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci and Stella McCartney. He collaborated with Alexander McQueen to stage his spectacular catwalk shows. He is also Director of the Museum of British Folklore, and the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall.

The poet Tony Walsh meets the actor Julie Hesmondhalgh. Tony performs under the name Longfella, which describes his 6ft 5in frame. His first collection of verse, Sex & Love & Rock&Roll, was published in 2015. He came to worldwide attention in May 2017 when he recited his poem This is the Place at the vigil following the Manchester Arena bombing. Julie played Hayley Cropper on Coronation Street for 16 years, and has appeared in acclaimed TV series including Broadchurch and Happy Valley. On stage she recently took the title role in Brecht’s Mother Courage at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. She runs a theatre company, Take Back, which stages performances of short scripts written in response to current events. Producer: Clare Walker

The writer Tracy Chevalier meets the ceramicist Edmund de Waal. Tracy Chevalier has written eight novels including the international best-seller Girl with a Pearl Earring. Her latest book 'A Single Thread' is set in Winchester Cathedral. Edmund de Waal is a ceramicist and author. His book 'The Hare with Amber Eyes' is a family biography about the loss and survival of art objects through time. His porcelain installations often respond to history, museum collections and archives. Producer: Clare Walker

The industrial designer Marek Reichman meets the graphic artist and designer Peter Saville. Marek Reichman has designed cars for some of the world's best-known marques and is currently chief creative officer at Aston Martin. Born in Sheffield, he graduated from Teesside University with a degree in industrial design and continued his studies in vehicle design at the Royal College of Art. Peter Saville was in his mid-20s when he created renowned album covers for Factory Records' bands including Joy Division and New Order. Since then he has worked with leading fashion designers and musicians and was appointed creative director of the city of Manchester. Producer: Paula McGinley

The artist Nina Mae Fowler meets the animator Nick Park. Nina Mae Fowler finds inspiration in the cinema past and present. She has created large scale pencil and graphite drawings of stars from Hollywood’s Golden age, and her portraits of leading British film directors are on show at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Nick Park is an Oscar-winning animator, writer and director best known as the creator of Wallace and Gromit, Creature Comforts and Shaun the Sheep. Producer: Clare Walker

The photographer Nick Knight meets the architect David Chipperfield. Over the last 30 years, Nick Knight has worked with many of the biggest names in fashion and music, including Alexander McQueen, Lady Gaga and Kanye West. Other commissions include a 90th birthday portrait of Her Majesty the Queen. Sir David Chipperfield has created prize-winning buildings around the world. In Britain, his most notable works include the River and Rowing Museum in Henley, the Hepworth Wakefield gallery, and the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate. One of his earliest commissions was a house for Nick Knight – where they met for this conversation. Producer: Clare Walker

The folk singer Karine Polwart meets the artist Jen Frankwell. Karine Polwart is Scottish songwriter and musician. She was BBC Radio 2’s Folk Singer Of The Year in 2018. Jen Frankwell is a visual artist and leatherworker, handcrafting sporrans and kiltbelts . She has created artworks for Karine’s latest album, The Scottish Songbook, in which she re-interprets Scottish pop songs from the past 50 years. Producer: Clare Walker

The writer Kamila Shamsie meets the choreographer Akram Khan. Kamila Shamsie was born in Pakistan, and has published seven novels. Last year she won the Women’s Prize for Fiction with Home Fire, the story of two British Muslim sisters, and their jihadist brother - who wants to come home. Akram Khan first danced professionally as a young teenager, and formed his own company almost 20 years ago. He appeared in the London 2012 opening ceremony, and last year he gave his final performance dancing in a full-length piece. His latest work Outwitting the Devil is inspired by a newly discovered fragment of the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world’s earliest surviving works of literature. Producer: Clare Walker

The actor Tom Hiddleston talks to the composer Nicholas Britell. Tom Hiddleston's screen credits include The Night Manager on television, and the Thor and Avengers films in the cinema. On stage he has played Coriolanus to great acclaim, and is currently starring in Betrayal by Harold Pinter. Nicholas Britell received Academy Award nominations for his scores for the films If Beale Street Could Talk and Moonlight. He also wrote the music for Vice, the recent film about Dick Cheney.

The composer Debbie Wiseman meets the film director Peter Kosminsky. Debbie Wiseman began composing at the age eight and has written over 200 scores for TV and film, including Wilde, starring Stephen Fry, Wolf Hall and Dickensian. Peter Kosminsky’s BAFTA winning fact-based dramas include No Child of Mine, about sexual abuse, and Warriors, which focused on the first British peacekeeping forces in Bosnia. More recently he has directed the multi-award winning TV series Wolf Hall, based on the novels by Hilary Mantel. Producer: Clare Walker

The theatre director Iqbal Khan meets the poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Iqbal Khan was born in Birmingham. His productions include innovative stagings of Othello and Much Ado About Nothing for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Benjamin Zephaniah is also from Birmingham. He's written more than a dozen books of poems, as well as novels, plays and children's books. Producer: Clare Walker