Today’s guest is perhaps the only playwright and novelist to have been an international athlete, teacher of those on death row at San Quentin prison in California and a tree surgeon – and he only began writing in his thirties. He won the inaugural Harold Pinter Playwright’s Award for ‘If You Don’t Let Us Dream, We Won’t Let You Sleep’ at the Royal Court and his play ‘Lampedusa’ has been performed in 40 countries. His debut novel is ‘Three Burials’, a satire on the refugee crisis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hello, this is Meet the Writers.
I'm Georgina Godwin.
My guest today is a political activist, playwright and novelist.
He won the inaugural Harold Pinter Playwriting Award for if you don't let us dream, we won't let you sleep at the Royal Court.
His play Lampeduser has been performed in 40 countries, with projects in development for stage, film and television.
Prior to his writing career, he'd been an international athlete and a Scottish 400 metre champion, a teacher on death row at San Quentin, California's most notorious prison, as well as some of London's biggest jails.
A political activist arrested on four continents, a techno dj, a tree surgeon and a carpenter.
Three Burials is his debut novel.
Anders Lustgarden.
Welcome to Meet the Writers.
Thank you for having me.
It's a bit early for me, but there's writers for you.
That's just the most extraordinary cv.
And I mean, writing is really the last thing on it.
You came to it very late.
Yeah, I did, yeah.
Yeah.
I didn't write anything until I was about 30 and I never really intended to write anything like.
It was not a.
I don't really understand or necessarily trust writers who know that it's the thing they've always wanted to do.