One Minute With: Bidisha
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Where are you now and what can you see?
I'm in my study and I can see the same view I have seen for the whole of my life, bathed in sunlight.
What are you currently reading?
The L-Shaped Room by Lynn Reid Banks, and The Women's Room by Marilyn French. The shocking thing is all the issues she was angry about (in the 1970s) are still around now.
Choose a favourite author and say why you like her/him
I have a lot of favourites but I would say Iris Murdoch. Reading The Bell changed my life. I thought "look at what the novel form can do".
Describe the room where you usually write
There are extremely bare walls, a nun-like spare bed and one of the walls is entirely taken up by books. The biggest collection is on medieval history, which is my biggest passion.
What distracts you from writing?
My day job. I work in radio.
Which fictional character most resembles you?
Virginia Woolf's Orlando (from the eponymous novel). I like the character's mercurial quality and his sense of frustration with the time he was living in. I like the ambiguity and the chameleon-like quality which I probably share.
What are your readers like when you meet them?
They are split; 80 percent are exactly the kind of young men and women I would love to be friends with anyway... usually metropolitan, cool, sexy and witty. Then there is the 20 per cent of men of a certain type.
Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?
My mother is one. She is a very cool character who has given me a lifelong taste for smart, efficient women. Elizabeth I and Joan of Arc also; anyone who fights the status quo.
Bidisha was on the jury for this year's Orange Prize for Fiction
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments