大象传媒

Meg Rosoff waited until she was 45 to write her first novel, How I Live Now, the story of a passionate love affair between young teenage cousins, set against the background of apocalyptic war. It changed her life, selling a million copies and becoming a film starring Saoirse Ronan. She gave up a series of unfulfilling jobs in advertising and reinvented herself as a writer. Over the last 16 years she鈥檚 published eight more novels, as well as eight books for younger readers, including four about McTavish the rescue dog. She鈥檚 won numerous awards, including the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award - half a million Pounds, the biggest prize in children鈥檚 literature.

In Private Passions, she talks to Michael Berkeley about the ways in which she鈥檚 reinvented her life over the years. First, there was the decision to come to England from New York and begin a new life here; then, after the tragic early death of her sister, there was the decision to become a writer. It didn鈥檛 begin well; she decided to write a book about ponies aimed at teenaged girls, but no publisher would touch it 鈥� it was far too sexy. Finding her voice as a writer took a while, and has led Meg Rosoff to think about 鈥渧oice鈥� in relation to musicians and composers too.

Music choices include Bach鈥檚 B Minor Mass; 鈥淟ondon Calling鈥� by the Clash; Brahms鈥檚 Second Piano Concerto, and Ravel鈥檚 String Quartet in F Major.

A Loftus Media production for 大象传媒 Radio 3
Produced by Elizabeth Burke