Description

Portraits of icons from Maya Angelou to Viola Davis, collected alongside dazzling essays and criticism by the Women’s Prize-shortlisted author of Ordinary People

‘A pleasure and an invigoration’ Guardian
‘A moving, witty and seductive anthology’ Financial Times
‘Every piece feels beautifully sewn together and complete’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO

Crafted over twenty-five years, I Want to Talk to You invites you into a conversation about literature, art and music, identity, grief and everything in between

As a young journalist, Diana Evans was catapulted overnight into the role of culture editor, going on to interview a roster of stars including Lauryn Hill, Viola Davis, Alice Walker and Edward Enninful.

In these portraits of contemporary icons, the author remains the observer. Alongside them, in pieces collected here for the first time, we also see her turning the lens on herself. We watch as she dances on stages in London and travels through Cuba. We sit beside her desk as she develops her voice as a writer, shaped by her love for Jean Rhys, James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. We walk by her side as she navigates the world – her family and the midlife sandwich, reflections on fashion, yoga, the British monarchy and lockdowns, and the lasting impact of George Floyd and Grenfell.

‘Truly insightful, conversational and unique… Absolutely brilliant’ ORE AGBAJE-WILLIAMS
‘Intimate and moving… Elegant in tone and finely wrought in form’ EKOW ESHUN
‘A celebration of a career that has been anything but ordinary and an intellectual mind forever evolving’ CHARLIE BRINKHURST-CUFF

Publisher Review

There is a depth and integrity to Diana Evans’s writing; every piece feels beautifully sewn together and complete — BERNARDINE EVARISTO Luminously questioning, always intelligent and unafraid of confronting the impact others can have on us — ORE AGBAJE-WILLIAMS, author of The Three of Us An intimate and moving meditation on the mysteries of writing and the pleasures of reading. Elegant in tone and finely wrought in form, it is a deeply insightful, and also profoundly enjoyable, collection — EKOW ESHUN, author of The Strangers A celebration of a career that has been anything but ordinary and an intellectual mind forever evolving. A blueprint for all of us straddling between fiction and journalism, who want to create meaningful, transcendent work — CHARLIE BRINKHURST-CUFF, editor of Mother Country One of our most outstanding writers * Bernardine Evaristo * A lyrical and glorious writer * Naomi Alderman * A writer at the top of her game * Leone Ross, on A House for Alice * Evans is always, always on the finest of forms * Candice Carty-Williams *